Shiner of the Underground
by GothicFairie
Summary: Someone from Levi's thug past is recruited by the Scouts or face the wrath of the Military Police. Who is she? What is her connection to Levi? What crimes has she committed? And how does she know how to kill titans without any training?
1. Chapter 1

**This takes place a few months after the fall of wall Maria and I imagine that the Scout Regiment was desperate for members. Even desperate enough to go back to the Underground District…**

"What is your name?" the tall blond man spat. He towered over her small figure huddled in the mud of the Underground Districts streets. "My name is Erwin Smith," he said as he crouched down to her level "Will you tell me yours?". Automatically she spat in his face.

"Like I'd tell you!" venom dripping from her tone. The next thing she knew her face was slammed into the mud puddle by one of the men who were where restraining her boots. She managed to lift her head a bit "Ivy," she said "Ivy Shiner" One of the Scouts raised his hand to his face where a black eye was starting to form after he had fought with her. He let forth a little laugh at the irony of her name.

"Alright _Ivy_ tell me where you got this 3DM gear" Erwin said as if he didn't think that Ivy was her real name. He got only silence in response "Can you tell me where you learned how to use it?". Still no reply and so Ivy found her face slammed into the cobbled road again. She rose gasping for breath and blood pouring from her nose.

"I found it" she said, "and I taught myself to use it. Theres only one way out of here and thats up. So I might as well give myself an advantage."

"Ivy, I'm going to make a deal with you. I, Commander Erwin Smith of the Scout Regiment will give you citizenship to the upper districts, and in exchange you will join the Scout Regiment."

"What if I refuse?" she asked doubtful of any deal with the military "'Sides who says I want to join your group of suicidal fools anyway?"

"If you don't join us, Ill have to hand you over to the Military Police, and judging by your rap sheet they wont be all that kind to you."

"Ha, the Military Police? I'd escape those lazy bastards before you can count to three.". One of the Scouts in the back snorted. She couldn't see his or her face because they had their hood up, but they where awfully short looking.

"No doubt that you could escape them, but who's to say we wouldn't come after you again?"

"Whats in it for me? Other than fulfilling my death wish that is?" Ivy asked, just as her stomach let loose a terrible sound, a protest of hunger.

"You will get regular meals" Erwin offered.

Ivy thought back to all the meals he had missed, all of the nights she had gone to bed hungry only to wakeup and be hungrier. The thought of regular meals seemed luxurious. Her stomach rumbled again. "Fine" she said "I'll take it." Commander Erwin motioned for the Scouts to move out with the exception of the few that where with her. The hooded one that had laughed flew by on their 3DM gear. Ivy was lead to the surface by the Scout that she had given the black-eye, Commander Erwin and a few others. When they reached the surface she hissed at the sight of the sunlight as it blinded her, she raised her cuffed hands to shield her eyes. _"How can they stand it?"_ she thought _"Its so bright."_ she then remembered that these people had grown up in the sun. They where used to it. Before her eyes could adjust she was put in a darkened carriage with Commander Erwin Smith and a figure sitting in the shadows. Ivy started to feel her nose, _"Defiantly broken"_ she thought and she began to fix it in the reflection of the glass.

"Tch brat let me fix that" a voice said as a hand reached out from the shadow and fixed her broken nose and than handed her a rag to soak up the remaining blood that was dripping from her nose.

"Thanks" she said as she looked at the person it the corner, his voice was oddly familiar, a stray beam of light illuminated his face for a split second and she automatically recognized him, he looked exactly the same, the only difference being the clothes he wore and the fact that his skin now had some pigmentation to it. "Levi?" she asked, her face in the same emotionless mask that it had been when she was captured.

"Ivy are you seriously wearing my old clothes?" Levi said his right eyebrow raised slightly.

"So what if I am Ackerman." she said, no hint of hostility or any emotion in her voice.

He scoffed, "Well you'll defiantly need new ones, those are far to large for you." Ivy had no response to that and stayed quite the rest of the trip, looking out of the window watching the world go by.

 _"_ _This is all one city, there is so much here, and to think that there is even more"_ she thought. By the time the carriage had arrived at its destination of the Scout Regiments base night had fallen and for the first time in her life Ivy Shiner saw the stars and moon and she was amazed at their beauty. She leaned over to Levi and asked him "So are these stars?". He looked at her with a mix of shock and sadness. He remembered that Ivy was like him, born and raised in the Underground District and only left it for the first time ever when the Scouts got them.

"Yes those are stars" he said "And they have names"

"Names?" she asked "how can they have names?"

"Well you named the stalactites" Levi said in response.

"Yeah but I was like 9 and only I knew there names, you make it seem like everyone knows the stars names" she retorted

"Well they were named by someone hundreds of thousands of years ago." he explained. Erwin watched their interaction with some caution, he was amazed with the way that they could go in and out of being comfortable with each other. Some moments they would appear to be at ease with each other and others the tension was tangible. Ivy he noted seemed to regard Levi with an attitude reserved for someone who had betrayed her. Levi he noted was also acting cold. Well colder than normal. Ivy was soon directed to the female bunks where she was to sleep, and Erwin went off with Levi to talk to him about Ivy.

"I didn't know that you knew Ivy Shiner" he started saying

" Yeah I knew her." Levi said, clearly not wanting to talk about it, "We kind of took her in and raised her."

"You raised her?" Erwin said somewhat shocked, he had never seen Levi give a second thought to kids.

"We, Farlan and I, were doing a job and we accidentally crashed theses old perverts who were auctioning her off to the highest bidder. Mind you she was probably only 8 or 9 at the time and she looked like she hadn't eaten in days. So while Farlan disposed of the pervs I wrapped her in my coat and carried her out of there. Poor kid, I don't think that anyone had ever been nice to her in her life."

Erwin raised his eyebrows in shock he knew that the Underground was rough, but selling kids as old mens sex slaves, that added a whole new level to it. "So you fed her and raised her and then you left her?" he asked.

"Pretty much, she was 13 when you took us and shows capable of taking care of herself, but the shock of all three of us leaving without even saying good-by must have been devastating. I don't even know how I'm going to tell her about Isobel and Farlan…" Levi trailed off as he fell into thought.

"Well tomorrow we are going to run her on the practice course and see how she does. So see you in the morning" and with that Erwin Smith left Levi Ackerman alone with his thoughts and his tea.

Across the courtyard in the women's bunks Ivy Shiner was the only one awake, she was used to sleeping for short intervals of time so that she was less likely to be attacked in her sleep. Also there was no deference between night and day down there, it was dark all the time. Ivy rolled over to her bedside table and lit the oil lamp and began to read. She eventually drifted to sleep and was woken up very early the next morning by the blare of a bugle. She blearily followed some of the other girls to the mess hall for breakfast. They where all dressed in the Scout Regiment uniforms the Wings of Freedom displayed proudly on each of their backs. Ivy was still dressed in Levi's old clothes when she arrived at the mess hall she was handed a small loaf of bread and a mug of tea. She took a sip of the tea and suddenly became very aware of the shear amount of people that where in the room. _"Shit"_ she thought _"Where am I supposed to sit?"_ looking around she saw an empty corner so she went and literally sat on the floor and began to break off chunks of her bread and dipping it in her tea so it was both more palatable and would last longer. She was so engrossed in her ritual that she didn't notice Levi was standing over her until he cleared he throat.

"Tch, brat Erwin wants you in his office now." Ivy quickly drank her remaining tea and pocketed her remaining bit of bread and followed him out. Ivy was shown to Erwin's office where he handed her a uniform and boots.

"If theses don't fit you we can get another size" Erwin told her as she was shown to a little room where she could change. It took two tries to find a pair of boots that fit, and three times to find pants. Luckily the shirt, jacket, and harness fit perfectly the first time although she did have to have help from Levi to fix the harness correctly. Once Ivy was suitably dressed Erwin said, "Great, now you have to introduce yourself to the members of the Scout Regiment that are present at this time."

As she was escorted into the court yard Ivy felt her stomach clench with nerves, she had never liked to be in front of a crowd and now she had to be. When they arrived the Scouts where standing at attention waiting for Commander Erwin to speak, as well as to see their new member. Erwin spoke for a short while, but Ivy heard none of it, she was too busy staring at her feet hoping she wouldn't barf all over the crowd. Then it was Ivy's turn to introduce herself so with her arms crossed and her eyes focused she said "Ivy Shiner" and quickly turned around and left. _"Well shit! I'm sure they all think I'm a coward now, I mean I cant even say my name in front of a crowd, how am I supposed to fight titans?"_ she thought to herself. She heard someone coming up behind her, but she didn't care enough to stop. That was until she realized whoever was running had no intention of stoping turning around she saw the one with glasses barreling down the pathway and her? he? they? looked like they were not going to stop. Ivy barely had time to get out of the way before Glasses crashed to the ground at her feet. She gave the person time to catch their breath.

"Hi! My name is Hanji Zoe!" she? said excitedly.

"Oh, ok, well I'm Ivy" she said as she held out her hand both for Hanji to shake as well as to help her back up.

"Look we don't have much time, but I'm supposed to take you over to one of the training courses. Mostly its just so we can see how you use 3DM gear, but also to see your reflexes and response time." On the walk over to the training course Ivy dug the remaining hunk of her bread out of her pocket, figuring it was nearly lunch time, and besides she was hungry.

"Oh… yeah, I see…" Ivy responded slowly as they rounded the corner to the training course. Levi, Erwin and some other guy where already standing there waiting for her. Erwin nodded as he heard them approach.

"Hello Ivy, I'm glad that Hanji was able to catch you after you ran off like that. But anyway, this is Alexander, and he is in charge of this course, Ill let you put on the 3DM gear and then we will tell you how you can kill a titan."

"I already know how." Ivy said with a straight face.

Everyone looked shocked, even Levi raised his eyebrow in amazement. "Wha- How?" Erwin asked.

"Easy, I asked." Ivy said as she stood up and adjusted her gear, she held her swords in her hands and was about to take off when Alexander said slyly

"You do realize that your holding those wrong, right?"

"So what if I am you piss baby." and she took off into the woods.

"Ha!" Hanji said "She holds her swords like you Short-Ass"

"Oi shut it Shitty-glasses!" Levi retorted as he pushed her away and leaned over to Erwin, "She's using so little gas, instead she's using her momentum to get her places. Quite clever if I do say so."

In the forest Alexanders men were adjusting the wooden titan models, no way where they going to let this street rat show them up. "She's coming!" one of the men yelled and the men began to move the titans. They saw her fly by and double back, and she attacked the model with precision that only a few senior Scouts had. She moved on and got the others with the same surgical precision. When she landed outside of the forest her face was red and beaded with sweat. The men who had been controlling the models soon came out of the wood and went over to Erwin, Levi and Hanji to discuss what they had seen. Ivy plopped herself down on a patch of grass and began to examen her blades to check for any damage.

"It was amazing to see her Captain" one of them said.

"Her cuts where so precise, are you sure she isn't a seasoned vet?" another asked

"Yeah, 'cause she knew exactly what to do. She only fumbled a bit" Ivy listened to what they were saying about her when Erwin called her over.

"Ivy, can you please tell us why you don't use much gas?" he asked

"There isn't much in the Underground, so you have to make it last. It wasn't like I could go and steal it from the MP's weekly" she said disinterestedly

"And the blades, why do you hold them like you do?"

"Thats how I hold a knife" she said bluntly "Now keep questioning me like this Commander and you'll get more than you bargained for."

After more small talk that Ivy only half listened to, the other squad members began to go off. Levi turned and was about to leave with Erwin when Ivy reached out and grabbed his sleeve. "Where are Farlan and Isobel?" she asked "I'd think I'd have seen them by now, unless you didn't tell them."

Levi stopped and sighed "Ivy please walk with me."

"Levi whats wrong?" she asked

"Just come on brat." he said as he began to drag her.

"Brat! I'll have you know I'm 18 now. Wait brat… that was what Farlan called me… Levi what happened?!"

Levi lead her along a small path in the woods, "Farlan died Ivy, Isobel too, they've been dead for nearly five years now."

"Dead?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit "come on Levi thats a cruel joke even by your standards."

"Its not a joke Ivy, I buried what I could find of them here." he said pointing to two small graves among the many sure enough one headstone read 'Isobel Magnolia' and the other read 'Farlan Church' also listed where their ages, a small quote and their service to the Scouts. "This is the graveyard that we set up for those soldiers who have no living relatives." he told her, remembering that she had always found that kind of thing fascinating.

"Thats nice." she said, "but why did they have to die? I mean I didn't even get to say good-by…" she lowered herself to the ground "I should have known, I mean I was a fool for thinking that they were still alive." Levi sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her. "Wow, Captain Clean, what about your pants, aren't you worried you might stain them?" she asked sarcastically.

"I think they can take a few grass stains, I'll just clean them extra hard tonight." he replied in the same sarcastic tone. He looked at her face and saw no tears. This had not been surprising to him because Ivy had never been known to cry. He then said "Hey, lets go get some tea in my office ok?"

"You aren't going to tell me that anyone else I like is dead are you?"

Levi looked offended "You like other people?!"

"Ha! No, I was just joking you."

"Tch tch Ivy you had me worried" he said as they walked out of the forest and up to the officers dorms. They walked in silence for a time, Levi walked up the stone steps and opened the heavy wooden door. Ivy quickly followed him in. She followed him up to the second floor where he opened another door which lead to his office. Ivy was impressed, she had always known Levi to be a bit of a neat freak, but his office was sparse, hardly any personal affects were on display, minus the stack of paperwork, the desk was clean. Behind it was what Ivy thought to be the equivalent of a small library, the back wall was filled with books. Off to the side, under a window was a small wood stove with a tea kettle at the ready. There was even a cabinet filled filled with tea, tea cups and a teapot.

"Ttch Levi, its everything you wanted isn't it? I mean its clean, and you've got all the tea you could possibly want." Ivy said looking around.

"Please, have a seat. I did invite you for tea, and I do intend to have some." and he began the usual clatter that comes with making tea, delicately measuring out each spoonful of tea into the teapot while the water boiled. He fetched two teacups and saucers from the cabinet. When the kettle whistled the quickly turned and poured the water in the pot and let it steep for 3 minutes. He and Ivy didn't speak during the process of making tea, Ivy was too busy admiring his book collection from afar. Levi handed her a cup of tea and that brought her back to earth.

"Sorry" she said "its just you have more books than I've seen in my entire life." and took a sip of her tea, holding her cup the same way as he did.

"You think I've got a lot of books? You should see how many Hanji has, then again most of hers are on titans…" he said as he sipped his tea.

"Hanji, she's the one who came after me?"

"Yes, thats Shitty-Glasses"

"She seemed nice"

"She's crazy as hell and completely obsessed with titans, but her heart is in the right place." Levi told her. The two continued to drink their tea in silence until the dinner bell rang. "Shit its that time already?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess so. Oh I forgot to ask, what squad am I in? I know most Scouts eat meals with their Squad and well I figured I should meet them instead of eating alone again."

"Of course, let me see, Erwin gave me that paper somewhere…. Ah here it is, looks like you are not in any official squad, I'll ask Erwin about that, come with me" he said as he walked out of the room and down the hall to Erwin's office he knocked on the door, "Erwin" he said "I have to ask you about Ivy's position"

A muffed voice said "Come on in" and Levi opened the door, Erwin's office was far messier that Levi's, papers were covering the desk, books that he used regularly were within reaching distance of his chair and the strong smell of coffee permeated every surface. "So you where saying something about Ivy?"

"Yes" Levi said bluntly, "the squad that she is in is not listed." he showed Erwin the paper.

"Hmmmmm let me see.." he said as he shuffled his papers "ahh yes, it appears that I haven't placed you in a squad yet…."

 **Who's squad should I place our dear Ivy Shiner in? Please help me to decide because I have no idea. I don't want to put her in Levi's squad just yet. That will be later… I hope. Also shiner is an old slang term for a black-eye which she conveniently gave one to a Scout member.**


	2. Chapter 2

**watch?v=pojy5d7lwtY** **music akin to what they dance to.**

 **This chapter starts off with a bit of Levi and Ivy's life in the Underground District**

"Come on and dance Levi-bro" Isobel shouted from the center of the square. A small group of ragtag musicians had taken up playing there and Isobel and Farlan could not resist the urge to join in with the throng of people already dancing. Levi stood on the outskirts, not wanting to join in, a young Ivy stood with him looking on longingly.

"Join them if you want" Levi said looking down at her.

"Not without you" she responded

"Tch, I don't dance Ivy"

"Please? Just once?" she pleaded with him grabbing his hand and forcefully uncrossing his arms.

Levi rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the wall "Fine Ivy I'll dance with you" and they fell in with the throng just as the band started up a jig. The pace sped up considerably and Ivy was nearly pulled away by the crowd as she danced.

"Isn't this more fun?" she asked him over the music

"I suppose" he told her, truthfully dancing like this reminded him painfully of his mother. She had liked to take him out dancing on the nights she wasn't working. When she his mother seemed to be able to forget about all of the problems that she had. The song changed again something slower and more ancient sounding than the others. This was one of the songs that had been written before the building of the walls. Ivy split off from him a bit as she started her own dance, making use of her arms mostly, moving them in time to the music her feet keeping time. She would spin occasionally. Levi could tell she was having fun. Farlan and Isobel danced over their way.

"So you decided to join us after all Levi-bro?" Isobel asked

"Ivy wanted to dance" he explained

"Watch out or you'll spoil the brat" Farlan warned jokingly as Ivy danced her way over to them.

"Lets go now." she said in a low voice

"But we were just having fun Ivy.." Isobel started to whine

"We need to go. I'll tell you why once we are gone." she said seriously as she practically dragged Isobel along. The boys had no choice but to follow her. Once they turned the corner she broke into a run, and ran all the way back to the house the others following behind her.

 _"_ _Who did she steal from this time?"_ Levi thought to himself as they ran

 _"_ _What did she do now?"_ Farlan thought as they ran

 _"_ _Great we're running again…"_ Isobel thought.

 _"_ _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"_ was all that ran through Ivy's head as they ran. They managed to make it back to the house and Ivy threw what she had been carrying to Levi. Levi caught it and immediately noticed the aroma coming from the tin "Tea?" he asked her "You risked your neck for some tea?" the foolishness of the girl baffled him sometimes.

"Not just tea" she said opening her coat to show a book, a pad of paper and ink. Levi looked to Farlan and Isobel for help, sure they were criminals, but that didn't mean they could steal anything and everything with reckless abandon. "Besides thats really good tea" she continued.

"Ivy," Farlan said "You cant just steal everything, you do have to pay for stage occasionally"

"I'm practicing, so I can get paid like you guys do. Besides I thought Levi could use some more tea."

"Fine Ivy, just be careful ok"

 _"_ _Just be careful"_ Levi thought, that was one of the last things he had told her before he left. _"Tch no wonder she hates me"_ he thought as he took another swig of scotch. Normally he wasn't much of a drinker, he didn't see the point. But tomorrow Ivy was going beyond the wall with her squad. It was just a short mission so he shouldn't worry, but it was her first. And he couldn't help but be reminded of Farlan and Isobel. It would be five years in a month. He wondered if Erwin knew. He got back to worrying about Ivy _"She's prepared"_ he thought _"She's been training for four months straight."_ the weaselly voice of doubt worked its way in _"But what if she's not? What if she goes the same way as Farlan and Isobel? You wont know till its to late…"_ He slammed his scotch glass down on the table. "She will be fine!" he said in a hushed whisper. "She's with Baldric and he's not a complete idiot, besides she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself." he looked over at the clock and realized that it was well past midnight, and he knew that it was going to be an early morning so he washed out his glass in his wash basin and went in his bedroom to sleep.

Across the commons at the same time Ivy lay awake thinking about tomorrow as well. She was terrified, naturally, if you weren't you were a fool. But she was prepared she kept telling herself. _"Besides if you do die it will be quick"_ she thought it might reassure her. It didn't. She listened to one of her squad mates Geralyn's snores, wondering how the girl could be so calm before an outing. Ivy remembered that Geralyn had lost her fiancé when Wall Maria fell and yet she still stood tall and fought with all her might. It was admirable of her to remain so after she had lost him, but Ivy remembered that Geralyn was not the only one who had lost someone they loved. Lorelei and Llewellyn the twins had lost everyone but each other when Wall Maria fell, they had been out on assignment and the news devastated them. Then there was Baldric the squad leader. He it seemed had lost so many. He like most of the squad leaders had no family, but thought of his squad members to be his family. But he had lost so many squad members over the years. _"I've lost people too"_ she reminded herself thinking of Farlan, Isobel, and before them her mother. Like many women in the Underground she was a common prostitute. _"Sleep, I need to sleep. I have to get up early in the morning"_ she thought to herself as she rolled over to look at the clock in the corner.

The wake up call came soon enough to the members of the Scout Regiment. It was a chilly misty September morning and the sun had yet to even fully rise so everything was shades of grey. Ivy dresses quickly and washed the sleep from her eyes in the basin in the corner of the women's barracks. She looked in the small mirror above it _"By the Walls I look terrible"_ she thought. Her long brown hair was matted and greasy beyond belief _"When was the last time I washed you?"_ as she attempted to brush it. Brushing that mass of hair was easier said than done and she had breakfast to get to. Considering her hair a failure for the day she tied it up in a messy bun as she made her way to the mess hall. She managed to get her cup of tea and bread, and sense today was a expedition day she got a small ration of salted meat as well. Ivy sat at the same table as her squad, but it was pretty easy to tell that she didn't quite fit with them. The other members of Baldric's squad had a chemistry and Ivy just couldn't fit in. It wasn't that both parties didn't try, because they did. It was just that Ivy was difficult, and that was putting it kindly. At first Ivy couldn't work with them at all, she was far too independent, preferring to work alone. She still did, and it was obvious she didn't really put her faith in her squad mates.

Levi watched Ivy's interactions with her squad mates from across the mess hall. He observed her reluctant trust of them and leaned towards Erwin "This isn't going to end well, you know that right" he said motioning to the squad.

"Yes, I know Levi." he said without looking up "But we need to see how she works in the real field. Even with people she doesn't work well with"

"Just so you know, if she dies her blood will be on your hands" Levi muttered threateningly.

"So will everyone else's" Erwin said softly as he finished his coffee and stood up "EVERYBODY MOVE OUT!" he shouted to be heard over the crowd.

The horses where readied and everyone moved out as the first rays of sun broke through the fog. "WE ARE HEADED TO THE SOUTHERN GATE TODAY!" Erwin had to shout to keep his voice heard above the clatter of hooves and panting of breath. "JUST A SHORT MISSION TO TRY AND CLEAR A PATH!" he fell silent after that, and soon they reached the gate. As the gate opened Ivy felt her spine shiver with anticipation and excitement, her stomach clenched up and she could feel her breakfast crawl up her throat. She quickly swallowed it back not wanting to appear frightened in front of the rest of the squad.

As they rode forward under the wall she couldn't help but let loose the smallest of squeals, luckily no one noticed _"Ha!"_ she thought _"Take that One-Legged Leroy, telling me I wouldn't amount to anything, this is something! If I survive…."_ soon the wall was far behind them

A signal flair indicated that a titan was moving in from the left so the squad moved to the right. But soon all semblance of a plan fell to shit as a titan appeared seemingly out of nowhere chasing them. _"Shit, shit, shit,"_ Ivy thought as the Titan was running towards them occasionally stoping to eat her fellow members of the Scouts _"Shit! I don't want to die just yet"_ as she watched Geralyn get swept up by the titans massive hand. That was when Ivy turned around and engaged her 3DM gear, it stuck in just above the titans collarbone and she swung upwards, landing on its shoulder. "Wow, you are hot aren't you?" she asked it, feeling the heat radiating off its body through her leather boots. "Pity I have to kill you, but you've killed part of my squad, and well that just wont do" and she leapt down. Hitting the sweet spot and downing the titan instantly. Ivy however didn't take into consideration how this massive body was going to fall, and so as it fell she fell into the gash that she had made. She fell into its steaming blood "Gahh!" she screamed out loud "That burns you bastard" the body hit the ground with a thud and she fell back in the gash "Eeagghh" she yelled in pain again. As she dragged herself out of the smoldering corpse she noticed the blood evaporate off of her body and clothing, "Thats nifty" she said, but upon closer inspection she noticed her hands and arms were covered in angry looking red welts. She assumed they were on her face as well. She could feel the skin on her face puckering from where it had been in contact with the blood. "This wont do at all" she told her horse who was coming out from a patch of trees. "But theres no use crying about it, lets catch up with the others ok?" and she climbed on her horse and raced after the others. She found them in a small clearing, and she could tell that things had not gone well for them either. So she dismounted her horse and walked it over to the makeshift horse stand and gave him a handful of grain from her hand. As the horses rough tongue grazed over her burned hand she let out a little gasp of pain.

"Tch, brat are you ok?" Levi asked from behind her.

"Yeah" Ivy said turning to face him

"What happened to your face?" he asked, his lip raised in a slight sneer.

"I got a face full of titan blood, thats what happened."

"Tch well you'd better go see Hanji, she has a salve or something for burns. How'd you even get a face full of titan shit anyway?"

"Seriously 'Captain', use your brain. Missing blades, titan blood burns… Its obvious, I killed a titan, but unfort—"

"You killed a titan?" Levi asked "How big?"

"10 meters, but—"

"Not bad for your first time out"

"Levi! I was to late, it killed most of my squad!" Ivy shouted at him.

"I know, but you need to get those burns cleaned up." Levi said as he physically dragged her over to Hanji. Ivy protested to no avail, it was pointless, she might be taller than Levi, but he was stronger. "Clean her up" he told Hanji as he deposited Ivy in front of her.

"What happened?" Hanji asked without looking up, she was to absorbed in her notes. \

"Titan-blood burns"

"Ah, interesting" she said, looking up from her notes and looking at Ivy's arms and hands first. "I've never seen any burning this severe from titans blood before…. maybe it has to do with the fact that you were born and raised underground. I mean when you first came up here you burned as red as the Colossus Titan. Ha! It must have been painful…" she was saying when Levi cleared his throat.

"Keep it focused four-eyes" he told her sternly. Hanji looked up at Levi.

"Fine, but I think Ivy might—" Levi stared her down "Fine" she said as she rolled her eyes and dug in her bag "here is this burn salve, it should help with these small ones" she said gesturing to the lighter colored patches on her upper arms and some of her face, "but these bigger ones might take a bit more. But don't worry, they will heal up fine." and Hanji began to rub the salve on Ivy's burns. "We have to work quickly because we don't know when the titans will be back, and when we get back to the walls a proper medic will take care of this ok?" Hanji said as she wrapped Ivy's arms in bandages "tell me if this is to tight"

"Its fine" Ivy told her as Hanji finished her arms and made her way to her face.

"How did this happen?" Hanji asked, Levi had sense walked away, leaving Ivy in Hanji's care.

"I- I killed the titan that ate most of my squad, and I fell in the gash that I made. Twice."

"Close your eyes" Hanji said and then "I'm sorry to hear about your squad, but you cant do anything about it now we have to leave soon."

"Well thanks Hanji" Ivy said as she stood up

"No problem Ivy"

Within a few minutes of their interaction Erwin signaled for them to move out, back to the walls. The return trip was about as eventful as the trip out, which is to say there where more titan attacks. Ivy managed to kill another titan before it got one of the men. Levi noted the delicate way she used the 3DM gear, like she was dancing. She looked natural the way she just flew thru the air and mercilessly took down a titan this time jumping off of it before she burned herself. When they got back to the wall they received the usual criticism about how they were waisting tax payers money and the like. Some brave souls even dared to throw rotten fruit and vegetables their way, claiming they should eat that shit if they were just going to get killed within the month. Levi looked back at Ivy, he half expected her to lash out at them, but she ignored them. Even as a rotten tomato hit her in the arm she didn't even flinch.

"She's in shock" Hanji said leaning over to Levi.

"I think she expected things to be better up here" he told her, "she used to eat the kind of shit they are throwing at us." he said "We all did" he added quietly which made Hanji think she was not supposed to have heard the last bit. Upon their arrival back to the base the injured were released into the care of proper doctors and nurses. Ivy somehow managed to avoid them as she put her horse away in the barn. She also avoided them as she made her way back to the dorm that she had shared with the other girls in her squad. It had once held the chatter of young women, now it was silent. Ivy sat down on the floor by her bed and reached under her bed, retrieving a box of pencils and pens as well as a tightly bound sketchbook. She sat on her floor and began to draw, because what else could she do? She had learned early on that tears never solve anything. Her burns itched through the bandages and she was tempted to scratch them, but she knew better.

"Have you seen Ivy Shiner?" Hanji was asking one of the medics. He shook his head in response, his face covered by a thin cotton mask "Are you certain? She's got some burns that need attending to and I haven't seen her sense we got back."

"Squad Leader, I think I saw her going back to her dormitory" one of the newer recruits said.

"Thanks" and she turned to find Levi. She found him in the stables feeding his horse a carrot "Come on Shorty" she said dragging him away "Ivy needs help."

"Tch why would she need help?"

"Think, how did you feel after your first mission? After you saw your friends killed in front of your face?" Hanji demanded as she pulled Levi across the commons "You where an inconsolable mess, and Ivy is a lot younger than you were, and god help me you are the closest thing that girl has to a family. Don't deny it Levi I covered for your short ass when you went on that 'mission' to retrieve her books from the Underground."

"No need to get worked up about it." Levi said bluntly, but his eyes widened just a little bit, Hanji spoke the truth he really was the closest thing to family she had.

 **Thats all for now folks please rate and review or not, whatever. Also sorry for some moments being really OOC I was maybe a little to emotional? or maybe drunk? who the fuck knows**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again dear readers and a special thank you to those who have followed and left reviews, they are much appreciated.**

It was about two weeks into her training when Ivy approached Levi. It had been raining all day, and Levi found himself buried in paperwork, so much so that he had been unable to leave his desk at all. Late in the afternoon, soon after he had finished his second pot of tea he heard footsteps running down the hall, and a thud against his door, as if someone had fallen against it rather forcefully. "Hello?" he called out "which one of you brats is out there? I'll have you run laps for this, or maybe go without supper!" there was no reply, then suddenly the door swung open and Ivy was standing there, soaking wet and covered in mud.

"We need to go back!" she said, her voice low and urgent "I need to get my things!"

"You are dripping mud all over my floor brat, and what are you talking about? What things?" he asked as he handed her a warm towel. "Now change out of that mess or you'll catch your death."

"My books and things" Ivy said as she took her clothes off and wrapped herself in the towel grateful for its warmth "I left them in the Underground, and I need them back"

"They are probably long gone by now and you know it." he said, and without looking up added "I have some spare clothes in that wardrobe behind you that you can use"

Ivy dug through the wardrobe while saying, "No, they wont be gone, I hid them in the floorboards of the apartment" she found a shirt and pants that looked right, "besides none of those petty criminals are clever enough to figure out where my really good things are" she finished saying as she finished dressing herself.

"Do you even realize how dangerous it would be for me to go back, or hell even you? I had a long list of enemies, and I know you do too."

"We can handle them, I've been doing it for the past five years alone" she said coldly.

Levi looked up at her from his desk "Sit down" he told her. Ivy recognized his tone as one to be obeyed so she sat rather forcefully in the nearest chair. "Have a cup of tea" he said as he offered the cup to her.

"Thanks" Ivy said rather quietly

"Look, I didn't want to leave you behind, you know that right. But you where just a kid, and the Survey Corps wouldn't have taken you, you would have been taken to the MPs for your crimes. And I- we couldn't run off. You know how good the Survey Corps are at catching us. They caught you."

"Yeah, I know Levi, which is why I've talked to Hanji and she wants to help."

"Wh-what?" Levi said, choking on his tea, "You asked Shitty-Glasses to help you steal back a couple of cheap books?"

"Yeah I did, and not all of them are cheap books Levi, some of them are really, really, old. Like predating the wall old." she said leaning forward in her chair.

"How did you even get those? Its a crime that will get you killed you know."

"Meh people have been killed for less, and to answer your question, I ran an illegal book smuggling business and I kept the best books for myself." Levi looked at her, his eyebrows raised slightly. Ivy noticed this and nodded, "Its true you know"

"How did you even manage that?" he asked once he regained his composure

"I don't really know" she replied, "I had just been doing regular crime before, a few commissions by some higher ups, and at one point I got in contact with the right people and I just started smuggling rare books to those who could pay. But anyway, when do you want to help me? Hanji said it would be best to sneak out at night" Levi looked at her,

"We can go tomorrow night" he sighed

"Thank you Levi" Ivy said putting down her tea cup "Ill return your clothes in a bit" she added as she left the room. A small smile snaked its way across her face, unknown to her the same smile was on Levi's face.

The next day Ivy trained as hard ever, but she was distracted. In the agility course she barely managed to avoid serious injury in a tree and she missed a titan replica twice. Levi had completed his paperwork and was training in a different area. Hanji was working on her experiments, all of them had their minds elsewhere, thinking of the rules they where going to break that night.

After dinner Ivy waited until dark to go up to Levi's office. Levi was sitting behind his desk nursing another cup of tea when he heard her soft footsteps coming down the hall, then her knock at the door. "Come in" he said.

"Thanks, Hanji said she will be over in a bit, something about titan regurgitation was going to keep her? I don't know, but she seemed excited…" Ivy said as she sat down. "Oh, and here are your clothes, I washed them already." she added as she pulled out a fabric bundle and placed it on the desk.

"Thank you" he began to say when Hanji burst through the door.

"Lets go!" she said excitedly, "I've never seen the Underground District before. What's it like?" Hanji kept peppering them with questions in a hushed whisper as they snuck out to the stables, even after they had saddled the horses and began to ride out she kept asking questions.

"Hanji do us all a favor and shut the fuck up!" Ivy finally snapped "you'll see what the Underground District is like when we get there alright?!" Hanji and Levi looked shocked, they hadn't expected Ivy to be the one to snap at Hanji.

Hanji looked away ashamedly "Im sorry" she said to Ivy, but anyone could tell she was still thinking those questions in her head.

Levi gave Ivy a mildly concerned look "Are you alright?" he asked, pulling his horse up beside hers.

She exhaled heavily from her nose "Its' nothing, I just don't want to go back. You where right, I do have too many enemies."

"And you said we could take care of them didn't you?" he said grabbing her hand from her reins. "So I think we can handle a few petty criminals eh?"

Ivy pulled her hand away "Don't touch me" she said defensively, her stomach clinched with nerves. She wasn't necessarily scared of going back to the Underground District, she was born and raised there after all, no she was scared of getting stuck there again, only this time she wouldn't be able to escape. Hell the thought of having to face her old rivals was a bit unsettling, but she had faced those thugs for five years without any help. "I just don't want to get left behind again" she finally said. "I know I was old enough to take care of myself when you guys left, but still I didn't know what happened to you…" she trailed off, not really knowing where she was going with that train of thought.

Levi looked at her "That won't happen again" he said quietly. Ivy had no response to that and they rode in silence for quite some time.

"Hey we are almost to the entrance" Hanji said breaking the silence.

"Thanks Shitty-Glasses" Levi said as they rode down the wide boulevard like streets of Mitras just inside of Wall Sina.

"I hate it here" Ivy finally said, "the whole place smells of pretentiousness and lies. They don't even know the extent of the poverty that lies beneath their feet" Levi and Hanji didn't really know what to say to this, they both knew it was true. The capital was well known for corruption as well as hiding certain facts from its people.

"Whelp here we are!" Hanji exclaimed as she jumped down from her horse. The entrance to the Underground District was as dark and disgusting as ever. Nothing more than a few stone steps where visible before they disappeared into the inky black. Levi felt his stomach clench up, true he had been here but two weeks previous, but a good portion of the Survey Corps had been there. Now it was just him, Ivy, and Hanji.

 _"_ _This is going to end badly…"_ he thought as they tied up the horses and walked into the inky black tunnel. They only had one lantern to light the way, and its feeble light didn't do much. Levi overheard Ivy whispering a tune to herself, he recognized it as the lullaby she would use to sing herself to sleep with after he and Farlan had first rescued her.

"The wind in the trees,

and the sun in her hair

she is so fair pretty Lily,

so sweet and fair.

But looks alone cannot save one in the deep

one must fight

for one to live.

Hush little one, and take up the knife

hush little one and take up the knife." Ivy sang in a hushed whisper, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Soon the light of many torches where visible, they had reached the first of the paid stairs. They passed the guard and down they went. The smell was the first thing Hanji noticed, mold and mildew the cavern smelled old and wet. She could smell the garbage and the cave walls as well. As her eyes adjusted to the dark again she could see the Underground District spread out beneath her and she immediately understood why Levi and Ivy would be so desperate to get out of this place.

"Its horrible" Hanji said in disbelief as they walked through the streets "how can people live like this? With no access to sunlight? Or fresh air? Or fresh food and water? Hell the titans are treated better this!"

"Hanji hush!" Ivy said pointedly "You are drawing attention to us, and we really don't need that right now.". They looked around and sure enough, people where looking at them rather strangely. This was to be expected, not many authorities came down here unless they had to, and the ones who did where mostly Military Police. It was safe to say most of these people had never seen a member of the Survey Corps before. They kept walking and just as they past a particularly dark and dingy alley a large man stepped in front of them blocking the trios path.

"Ah shit" Ivy said upon seeing the man

"So you thought you could skip town without paying me Shiner? No one crosses me, not even you!"

"Garvel I didn't come here for any trouble, so if you would just move" she said attempting to navigate her way around the large man.

"Bitch you think you can wile your way out of this little scrape with your cleverness? You are wrong Shiner, oh so wrong." The man was shaking his head Levi and Hanji noticed Garvel's henchmen slowly coming out of the shadows and surrounding them.

"Ivy what did you do?" Hanji asked cautiously

"Isn't obvious Four-eyes? I owe the shit head money" was the terse reply

"Tch brat are you serious? Did you learn nothing from what I taught you? Don't owe anybody anything." Levi said

"Funny thing is I never borrowed any cash from this ass. I backed out of a deal with him and he refuses to accept that little fact. Also I think he wants me to join his little whore house" with that she kneed him in his crotch, causing him to double over in pain which was when Ivy punched him hard in the face. He was on the ground but she kicked him in the gut a couple of times for good measure. Levi realized what she was going to do a half second before she did it, so he went after two of the henchmen, leaving Hanji to deal with the other one, which she did.

"One of your enemies?" Levi asked when they finished them up.

"Yeah, thought he could take advantage of as he put it 'a pretty lil thing like me'" she replied, "now hurry up. We are nearly there." she said as they rounded another corner in the maze like streets. Hanji was unsure as to how Ivy and Levi where able to find there way around, everything seemed to twist and turn and occasionally get lost in the black. Son they arrived at a cluster of small apartments and Ivy and Levi climbed the stairs of the nearest one. "Welcome home!" Ivy said as she swung the door opened to a bare room striped of anything that could be sold. When she saw the mess to say she was angry would be an understatement "Those bastards come into my home and steal my fucking shit!" she yelled and kicked the door. She looked through the rest of the apartment and found all of the other rooms had experienced the same level of trashing. Ivy noted with a sigh of relief the floor boards and celling panels where still in place. "Good" she said as she lifted up a floor board next to the stove "They didn't find any of the good stuff" as she pulled out a few books and lose papers, stuffing them in her bag. She then moved the only not broken chair to the center of the room and while balancing on it rather precariously she opened up one of the celling tiles to reveal another secret compartment, from this one she dragged out more books and papers. They ended up moving from room to room, lifting up lose floorboards and removing celling tiles, finding all manner of books and papers. When Levi undid the floorboard in Ivy's bedroom he found not papers and books of monetary value, but of personal value. There was a photo of the four of them, shortly before he Farlan and Isobel left. It was Ivy's 13th birthday, just a few 20 days before his. He remembered Isobel had attempted to make a cake, but they didn't have very much sugar or any fresh fruit, so she used dried fruit as a substitute, she had used quite a but of their alcohol too. He remembered that they ate off that cake for weeks. It was well worth it. He put the photo down, and saw the next thing was a pencil drawing of their group it looked half completed, and may have been discarded half way through. He flipped through the rest of the papers, some little notes and others little drawings. Levi came across a little leather bound book, flipping through the pages he felt as if he had come across something privet, something he might have not looked at for inside the book there where so many sketches and doodles, of people and things. Of what Ivy imagined to be outside as well as what she saw all the time.

"Looking through my privet things are you?" Ivy asked, startling the Captain

"These are pretty good" he said gesturing to the drawings

"Thanks" she said rather tersely as she gathered up the papers and sketchbook "We're done here, and we should be going now. Knowing our luck the local thugs already know we are here and are waiting to ambush us outside. Also I think Hanji is going crazy."

"Alright, I'll grab her." Levi said as he pushed himself up from the floor with ease, leaving Ivy alone. She looked down and saw the photo, it was the only one she had of any of them a man had come through with a camera that day. He had been a reporter from one of the outlier districts along Wall Rose documenting the poor living conditions of children mostly in the Underground District, and he sent them a copy of the photo because it didn't get published in the paper.

Leaving the Underground was more difficult than entering it. The three of them had to fight off several thugs and gangs and then they had to pay the multiple stair guards so they could pass. The ride back to headquarters was quiet, they where all exhausted from the nights activities and they arrived with the sun. Hanji looked ready to collapse, she was used to pulling all nighters for sure, but three in a row seemed a bit excessive. Ivy was practically dead on her feet as well, she had been training all the previous day and she never slept as well as most. Even Levi looked tired, come to think of it he probably got as little sleep as Ivy or even less. All seemed to be going well in regards to sneaking back into Headquarters, that was till Commander Erwin caught the three of them in the stables.

"What are you three doing out here?" he asked in a commanding voice.

 _"_ _Shit shit fuckkkkk…."_ Ivy thought to herself, trying to come up with a cover story. _"I could always tell the truth? Nope bad idea very bad idea"_

Levi was also struggling to come up with a good cover story, but he had nothing.

"Sorry Commander!" Hanji said, pushing her way to the front, "I borrowed Captain Levi Ackerman and Cadet Ivy Shiner to go run some tests last night, and we got side tracked and where unable to come in till now." Surprisingly the Commander bought their excuse.

"Well you lot look exhausted so I suppose I can allow you to get a bit of sleep before the days activities." Commander Erwin told them as they gathered up their bags of books. As Ivy was filing out of the stable he leaned over her and whispered in her ear "If I ever catch you sneaking out and lying about it again I wont be so lenient. Understand Shiner?"

"Yes sir" Ivy replied in a shaking voice. That man unnerved her. She barely managed to make it to her bed before collapsing. Just barely shoving her things under the bed and kicking her boots off before passing out. Across the way Hanji fell asleep on her bed, boots still on and glasses pushed up on her forehead. Levi slept in his arm chair, too tired to even move to his bed.

 **Thats all for now folks. I hope you enjoyed it, if you did please tell me by commenting and following this story… Or whatever it is you do.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So a new chapter again… How are you lot enjoying this story so far? I start school again soon so that is exciting! I would like to thank the academy… wait wrong speech, I want to thank those lovely folks who comment on this because lets be honest I have like minimal motivation to do anything and writing shitty fanfictions is a form of free therapy for me. Also I have no idea how people actually converse because I don't ever talk to people I just read books.**

Levi and Hanji stood outside the door to Ivy's dorm room, Hanji knocked first. "Ivy" she said cautiously "Can Levi and I come in? I need to check on your burns since you wont visit a medic." Hanji got no return, no sign that Ivy had heard them. "Hey I get it if you don't want to talk, but we really need to ok?!" Levi could see that Hanji was working herself into a tizzy.

"Listen brat if you don't open up this door right now or I'll-" just then the door swung open and they where face to face with Ivy.

"Or you'll what Captain? Ground me? Force me to muck out the stables? What will you do?" she asked suddenly, her voice cracking only slightly "Because I don't really want to hear it right now."

"Im sorry that you lost your friends." Hanji said trying to be helpful, I understand what its like, losing people you care about-"

Ivy cut her off abruptly "They weren't my friends."

"Oh- oh" Hanji flustered not really knowing what to say as Levi pushed past her into the room"

"Get up" was all he said bluntly as Ivy glared up at him, her eyes red and wet. "So you have been crying" he said softer this time, kneeling down to her level.

"Was that how they died?" she asked, her voice low and watery.

Levi paused for a second before responding, "Yes" he eventually said.

"Figures" Ivy said, trailing off not really knowing what to say.

"Do you want to join us for a drink?" Hanji asked tentatively.

"Sure" Ivy replied, getting up from her spot on the floor just as Hanji suddenly grabbed her arm.

"We should probably take those bandages off first though! Give your burns some time to air out and all!" she said excitedly.

Ivy looked at this strange woman with mild concern as she began to unwrap her bandaged arm. "Okay I guess" was all she could say as she looked over to Levi who had begun to unwrap her other arm.

Luckily it did not take long for them to unwrap Ivy and soon they where walking to the local tavern, it was a common place for members of the Survey Corps to go after an excursion, or even just on a Friday night. So naturally by the time they got there it was packed with all the recruits as well as the officers. Levi maneuvered his way to the back of the tavern to a small both, Hanji pushing Ivy along so she knew where to go. "This is our booth" Levi explained, "We have been sitting here for years". As they sat down an attractive enough young woman came by for their orders.

"What will it be for you lot?" she asked, practically yelling to be heard over the crowed

"We'll start with a pitcher of wheat beer and three glasses if you don't mind" Hanji yelled back.

"Of course" was the waitresses response as she turned and left.

"Wheat beer?" Ivy asked doubtfully "If you are trying to get me drunk you will need to find something stronger than that."

Levi looked to her with mild interest as the waitress came back with the beer and glasses. "Here you folks go"

"Drink up!" Hanji said as she poured each of them a glass.

"Not bad" Ivy said "Its much better than the shit they serve in the Underground at least"

"That it is" Levi said agreeing with her wholeheartedly, he remembered the beer of the Underground City, it was weak and murky and somehow always left a greasy rotten taste in the drinkers mouth. No, you where better off drinking the various home-brewed liquors that people sold illegally, sure they might make you go blind if you drank too much, but they tasted infinitely better. The three of them made fast work of the pitcher of beer just as the waitress came back around.

"Would you like me to top up that pitcher?" she asked sweetly.

"No thanks" Levi said briskly, "I think we will order something else instead"

"What will it be then?" she asked cautiously, not really knowing what to expect from the three Survey Corps members, two of which where captains.

"Ivy why don't you order?" he said looking at her, curious to see what she would order them.

"A mug of grog each" she said simply and then looking at her fellow drinkers bored faces she added "Could you double the rum?" and out of the corner of her eye she say both Levi's and Hanji's eyes widen with a combination of shock and concern.

"You do know how much rum is in grog don't you?" Levi asked concernedly

"Yeah, and I never found it to be enough." she responded in a low voice as the waitress came back with the alcohol.

"Double the rum just like you asked" she said placing the mugs on the table "Had a rough day out?" she asked gently

"You could say that" Hanji said "It was her first trip beyond the walls and well, she kind of lost her entire squad" she added in a low voice as she pointed at Ivy who was, at that moment was drinking her mug of grog rather aggressively.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" the waitress said her voice reached a higher pitch and became more distraught, causing Ivy to look up from her drink.

"What now?" she asked, completely oblivious to the conversation that had been happening over her head.

"Tch brat, they where just talking about how you lost your entire squad today so look a bit sadder why don't you?" Levi said as he kicked her under the table. Ivy proceeded to kick him back and turned to the waitress saying

"Yes I did loose my squad mates today, but truth be told I didn't know them all that well so I do not feel their loss as heavily as I feel the loss of my friends, knowing now how they died five years ago." upon hearing this the waitress knelt down to give Ivy a hug to which Ivy violently shuddered, shrugging the woman off her in the process. "Get off me" she added aggressively as the waitress walked away. Levi eyed her over his drink, his eyes narrow slits.

"What is up with you?" he asked testily "are you drunk or something?" Ivy took a swallow of her drink before responding

"No, but that woman was trying to pickpocket me" and she took another swig, finishing off her pint of grog.

As the others finished off their drinks Hanji said "Well Levi, its your turn to order, so what will it be?"

"The same as always Shitty- Glasses, an entire bottle of whisky divided between the three of us." he told them coolly.

"Wow Levi, I'm impressed you aren't ordering a hot toddy or something like that." Ivy said sarcastically. Levi glared at her as the waitress came back over.

"So do you folks need anything else or will that be all?" she asked them cautiously, eyeing Ivy out of the corner of her eye

"Yeah" Levi said "we need a bottle of whisky to go if you please" and the waitress left them "I am getting tired of just sitting in here" he explained as the waitress returned, bringing their bill along as well. Hanji reluctantly paid her portion of the bill, complaining the whole time that her money could have gone towards her science. Levi on the other hand put out his money less reluctantly. Then there was Ivy who looked to be on the of panic at the thought of spending the money.

"Levi" she said, "Can you take my money and put it out? Maybe I'll feel less guilty about spending it then…" as her voice faded off Levi and Hanji both gave her a rather odd look but proceeded to do as she asked anyway and soon they where off on there merry way with a big bottle of whisky to keep them warm.

The three of them wandered the streets back to the base where they made their way to the roof top, plopping down with three glasses and the bottle of whisky.

"I will never get over how beautiful the stars are" Ivy finally said after they had been sitting in silence for some time.

Hanji was already asleep by that time so Levi said "Yeah they are aren't they?"

 **P.S Sorry it has taken my so long to get back to work on this, I hope to keep it updated from now on. I find it funny that I can work on these things more when I have more work than when I don't**


	5. Chapter 5

**So I totally forgot to add this little tidbit in at the end also thanks Enemy of Death for the review, that was nice**

"I've been meaning to ask you" Levi said, "How did you know the kill spot on the titans? From my understanding there was absolutely no way you could have known" he looked to Ivy, he could tell she was a little drunk, but not drunk enough that she was in danger of doing something stupid, he had to give her credit, the kid could hold her alcohol.

Ivy looked away, her body went ridged Levi knew that this was not something she was comfortable talking about. As her reached down to comfort her she shuddered "You have to promise not to tell anyone okay?" she said in a low voice. Levi agreed, naturally he knew when it was best to keep secrets. "How could I not know is the better question" she asked herself more than him as she moved her long braid away from her neck and pulled down her collar "I mean it is literally cut into my skin". That was when Levi saw there on the nape of her neck where the markings of a titian kill, they were old and scared over but still there.

"How did this happen?" Levi asked as he pulled her into a side hug

"There was an old man who had at one point been in the Garrison Regiment, when he heard that I wanted to know how to kill titans he pulled me aside and showed me how…" as Ivy said this she felt Levi tense up

"What was his name?" he asked rather stiffly

"It doesn't matter, he's been dead for years" she said leaning her head on Levi's arm like she had done when she was smaller "I should know, after all I did kill him" she added sadly


	6. Chapter 6

**So this is just a little something extra that I did for Ivy and Levi's birthdays. It was something I was meaning to put in a bit later, but with both Ivy and Levi's birthdays coming up I decided to do it now…. Love y'all lots**

Birthdays where always a difficult time for anyone in the Underground District, but for Ivy they where particularly difficult. When she was very young her mama would try and make her something nice, it might be a cake or a piece of fruit, or sometimes if she was really lucky it was an article of clothing. Ivy's mama had been quite the seamstress before some rather poor luck forced her underground. When she was a bit older and living on the streets her birthday had been just another day, although it was always sad. When she lived with Levi, Farlan, and Isobel it had been a happy day, they each tried to make or buy her something nice. One year Levi had even purchased her a small knife, the kind she could use to protect herself and yet still conceal on her person. The end came to a wicked curve "So you can slit a mans throat easier" Levi had told her as she held it opened. Then they left her, and Ivy's birthdays went back to being sad lonely days. Now that she was in the Survey Corps she didn't know what to expect. Truth be told she did not really want to celebrate.

'Its my birthday', that was Ivy's first though when she woke up that morning. She was reluctant to get out of her bunk, it was so warm and comfortable under her layers of wool blankets. But a quick glance out of window and her curiosity was sparked. For snow was falling quite rapidly outside. See snow was a strange concept to anyone who had lived in the Underground District for the majority of their lives like she and Levi had. So slowly she left the warmth of the bed and silently got dressed, her roommates where still asleep and probably would be for a good bit longer. Grabbing her cloak, scarf, and gloves from her chair Ivy left the room, silently closing the door behind her. As soon as she was outside it seemed she was in a different world. Everything that had become so familiar was covered in a thick white blanket, and every sound was muffled. She began to walk, aimless, just wandering mystified by the strangeness that was snow. She suddenly remembered her mother telling her about snow on one of her birthdays when she was younger.

'"It snowed the day you were born Ivy" she said kindly as she stirred the potato soup for their dinner.

"Whats snow Mama?" Ivy asked, never hearing of such a thing before.

"Oh Ivy" her mother said, pulling Ivy in closer to her side "Snow is the white powder that falls from the sky, it covers the earth in a thick blanket. It is beautiful, but it can also be deadly"'

'A beautiful killer' Ivy thought "Just like me'

Levi woke up suddenly, jolting awake from another nightmare. Knowing he couldn't get back to sleep he went to make some tea. While standing over his little wood stove he noticed the snow, it was falling thick outside 'We'll probably have to cancel training today' he thought to himself as he continued to stare out of the window, slowly he realized that there was a person out there. He couldn't quite tell who it was, but judging by the way they where walking it was clear to see they where not used to the snow. Levi quickly ran through a list of possible cadets in his head, but only one came to mind "Ivy" he shouted as he threw open the window. He shivered at the sudden gust of cold wind that blew in. The figure turned and waved to him, shouting

"Levi is this snow?" naturally it was Ivy,

"Its 4 o'clock in the god damn morning what are you dong out in this godforsaken blizzard?" he yelled back.

"I couldn't sleep and Ive never seen snow before" she shouted "now come outside with me!". Levi turned from the window, knowing there was no way she would come in on her own accord. Just then his tea kettle began to whistle, and he poured it into two mugs filled with tea leaves.

"Fine I'll come outside" he muttered to himself as he pulled on his boots and coat, grabbing the mugs of tea ad he left. As he passed his wall calendar he noticed the date "Shit its Ivy's birthday" he said as he closed his door and made his way down the hall to the outside.

He found Ivy in the courtyard, she was just sitting on a bench under a tree. She was quietly thinking about how suddenly her world had changed. Levi sat down beside her and handed her one of the mugs of tea. "Happy Birthday Ivy" he told her.

"Thank you" she said as she took the tea, "I thought you had forgotten, its been so many years I nearly had…"

"You know I never wanted it to end up like this… Don't you?" he said cautiously, not knowing if it was the right thing to say.

"Yes Levi, I know I know. Can we please get past that now? I just want my brother back, the one I looked up to for all those years. Okay?" her voice pitched slightly at the end, threatening an upset.

"I wish I could Ivy, I wish I could, but I will try alright?" he said pulling her into a side hug "Now lets go inside, its freezing out here"

"Of course" and they got up and went into the officers housing. The two sat at Levi's desk not doing anything but enjoying each others company, they didn't always need words to communicate.

Levi broke the silence first "Sense I have to cancel practice, and it is your birthday and I didn't get you anything I'll take you into town and buy you something nice."

"Theres no need Levi"

"I insist, after all I've got five birthdays to make up for."

 **Sorry that this is shit, Ivy's birthday was on the 6th and I meant to post this then and obviously failed to do so. I hope to be updating again soon as I am on break right now. Happy holidays!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Life lesson kids, never ever ever drink black tea on an empty stomach, you will regret it greatly, think vomiting straight tea and stomach juices for a good thirty minutes during your 8am class. Also I have no clue how often I will be updating now, but breaks are coming up so thats fun and all.**

Three years had passed since Ivy Shiner was forced to decide between joining the Survey Corps or being put in the Military Polices custody. She had chosen the Survey Corps in part just so she could get outside. But now three years later she had risen through the ranks and was now being awarded the role of Squad Leader.

"Cadet Shiner please step forward" Erwin said as Ivy walked across the stage to the podium "As of now you are no longer an ordinary soldier, today you become a Squad Leader, are you prepared to take on this responsibility?" he asked her pointedly.

Ivy looked him dead in the eye and said "Yes sir I am" and she saluted him, her face was serious but inside she could feel her gut twisting and turning, begging to escape. The thought of being responsible for anyones life but her own terrified her greatly. 'But,' she reasoned with herself 'there is higher pay, and a privet room/ office'. Her thoughts where racing a million miles a minute as Commander Erwin pinned a small pin to her jacket, singling her out as a Squad Leader. She raised her fist in salute again and proudly stated the Survey Corps motto and swore that she would do anything for her squad, and that was it, she was now a Squad Leader. That was it, and now she felt the serious need for a drink, but first she had to finish moving all of her stuff from her old bunk to her new room. It wasn't that hard, she didn't have that much to begin with, and the majority of the stuff that she did have was always packed away in milk crates under her bed. As she walked to her old bunk she was stopped by Levi.

"You know they are having a party for you right?" he asked her.

"Yeah., and you know I don't really do parties right?" Ivy responded

"I know, so I grabbed you a bottle of rum, consider it a house warming gift."

"Thanks Levi" she said as she grabbed the bottle from him, but he held it away.

"Have you finished moving yet?"

"No, I was about to go and do that. I only have a few more milk crates to carry over." she told him as she continued to walk on.

"Well Hanji sent me to help you, said something about you begin her neighbor or something"

"Yeah, I think our rooms are connected by a bathroom or something…"

"My the walls help you if that is the case, as you know Four eyes rarely cleans anything"

Ivy looked over to him though her hair, "I know" she said as they entered the cadet bunks. Quickly the two of them managed to collect the remainder of Ivy's belongings and move them across the quad to the squad leaders dorms.

The small apartment was the same layout as all the others, the room that you first walked into from the hall was an office/ study/ greeting room. Along one wall was a bookshelf, along the other wall there was a window and a small wood stove that heated the room but could also be used to boil water and little things like that. Another wall had two doors on it, one leading to the toilet and the other to the bedroom. There was also a decent sized desk with a chair behind it and an arm chair in one corner. Levi noticed that Ivy had already started putting her books on the shelf and had put a small tea kettle by her stove. Through the second door was the bedroom. It housed a single bed, a bedside table with the standard issue oil lamp on it, a wardrobe and a dresser, as well a small wall mirror. Ivy had already made her bed with the standard issue off white sheets, but she had added her own personal touches, such as a blanket that she had knitted herself and the shawl the Levi and Farlan had found her in was draped over the corner of the bed. The bathroom was through the other door, and it was indeed shared with Hanji. It was a decent size as far as bathrooms go, it was not large at all, but it was long. Probably because it acted as a connecter between two rooms. But it had a sink with a small medicine cabinet above it, a tub with a shower and a toilet. There where also some large wads of brown hair in the sink that looked suspiciously like Hanji's Levi noted again. The boxes had been placed by the front door originally, and had now spread across much of the room as Ivy had been unpacking. Levi stayed behind to help her unpack some more of her belongings and put them away. The first box he unpacked contained Ivy's street clothes, this consisted of an insane amount of long black skirts and white blouses as well as some black trousers, a jacket and half a dozen shawls. At the very bottom of the box was a calf length grey wool cloak and a white nightgown.

"Just put that stuff in the wardrobe" Ivy said when she saw the box "Well except for the trousers, they can go in the bottom drawer of the dresser and the shawls can go up top." and they continued to work, unpacking late into the night. Ivy lit the oil lamps that where on the walls so they could continue to work for a bit longer. Soon they heard Hanji next door, her drunken stumbling could probably be heard from a mile away.

"Is she back already?" Levi questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"I guess so" Ivy said distractedly, looking to the clock she suddenly understood why "Shit its practically 2am… Thats why she's back"

Levi looked up, suddenly realizing how tired he was "Can we continue unpacking in the morning?" he asked, trying hard not to show just how tired he was.

Ivy barely managed to stifle a yawn before responding "Go on,we have to be up early tomorrow anyway, and I can't start my first day as a Squad Leader by falling asleep in front of my squad can I?" So Levi left and Ivy promptly passed the fuck out in her bed.

The next morning Ivy was promptly woken at 6am by her alarm, she just glared at it silently, hating its very existence. Eventually she rolled out of bed at 6:02 and headed to the bathroom, she could hear Hanji next door waking up as well, Ivy turned on the sink faucet and let the water run till it was hot, brushing her teeth while it warmed up. As soon as the water was warm enough she used it to wash the sleep from her eyes and looked in the mirror and said to herself "Looking pretty good for less than 4 hours of sleep aren't you Shiner" and smirked. She then left the bathroom and pulled on her uniform, struggling a bit with the straps for the 3DM gear. In a last ditch effort to look halfway decent she braided her hair and wrapped it around her head, pinning it in place with a dozen hair pins. And she left, she was going down to breakfast and then she would meet her new squad. She was nervous, she could barely swallow her tea and toast at breakfast. She looked over at Levi, if he was tired he didn't show it, he looked as bored as ever, and then she looked over to Hanji. Hanji looked very hung over, so did the majority of the Squad Leaders. 'They must have all been drinking late last night' Ivy thought taking another sip of tea to settle her nerves, and then breakfast was over, almost as quickly as it had begun. At the end Commander Erwin Smith stood up and announced "All squads please report to their Squad Leaders in the courtyard after breakfast" and then he left. The other Squad Leaders grumbled and got up from their seats. Ivy did as well, leaving behind the majority of her toast. Levi noted this as he past her seat and made a note of it.

In the courtyard Ivy stood at attention, waiting to greet her new squad. Slowly they came up to her stating their name and class rank, then moved to the side and stood at attention. It struck Ivy that these soldiers where rather young. She knew that the Fall of Wall Maria three years ago had caused a surplus in the amount of people living in Wall Rose and by proxy caused the age of enlistment to be lowered from 16 to 12. It just didn't occur to her that she would be leading actual children to their deaths. Ivy stood their, unable to say anything at first, then she figured she should introduce herself.

"I am Squad Leader Shiner, you will refer to me as such until I deem it necessary that you do not." she stated. With this she could see that she had their attention, there where only five of them. 'The number of cadets with a death wish is awfully small this time around.' she thought to herself, remembering how last year there had been a good number more of fresh recruits. "Alright, so today we are going to start simple. I want to see your skills on the battlefield."

"But Ma'am-" one cadet started to say before seeing Ivy's glare "I mean Squad Leader Shiner, you already have our files don't you? You should be abel to see our skills there"

"Very clever, Dover wasn't it? Yes? Good. Sure I could just look over your file and see how well you do on a familiar course, but I need to see how you do on unfamiliar territory. Also I am able to see how you work together, papers can rarely convey that properly" the cadets seemed to take this as a sound enough reason and so they walked over to get 3DM gear.

Ivy watched as they flew, she followed close behind observing all their quirks and skills. She noted that Cadet Dover used far to much gas, and that he was a bit hotheaded. Cadet Omskirk on the other hand was almost too tentative in her movements, she would have these moments of pure brilliance followed by doubt. Cadet Weaver and Cadet Schmit worked well together. It might have helped that the two had lived in the same village and had known each other for the entirety of their lives. Lastly was Cadet Baumann, he was a bit of a loner, but he was also the strongest and he could see the spots the others and missed.

'They are good' Ivy thought as she had them wrap up training for the day 'But they could be better, and they are so young'. She sent them off to dinner, taking time to walk by herself and think through her first day as a Squad Leader.

At dinner Ivy picked at her vegetable stew, Levi watched as she stabbed a chunk of potato with her spoon. "Tch, brat whats wrong with you?" he asked her in a low voice

"Its nothing Captain Levi" Ivy replied, her tone bitting and harsh

Levi raised an eyebrow "You can stop acting like a little shit and tell me whats wrong, or I can say that you are not mentally fit to be a Squad Leader"

Ivy glared at her soup and said "Doesn't it bother you that we are sending children to their deaths?"

Levi stopped, he suddenly understood "Oh" he gasped

"My entire squad cant even legally drink and yet it is expected for them to give their lives"

"They did volunteer" Levi countered

"When they where 12 Levi!" she retorted angrily "Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to go to bed now" and she got up from the table and left the dinning hall.

 **Thats all Ive got for now, I start school up in a week so I don't think I will update again before then. Also happy New Years everyone, hopefully 2017 will be better than 2016. I mean it has to be, after all we are finally getting a second season of Attack on Titan and I am hella stoked!**


	8. note to all

Just a heads up, this is also on AO3 now, the name of the story is the same and my name is Thewitchfinder


	9. Chapter 9

Ivy sat at her desk unable to process what had happened, to her left the tea kettle boiled and she let it, its high pitched scream filling her ears helping to numb the pain. She sat at her desk, holding Cadet Weaver's and Cadet Schmit's blood stained badges. It was only meant to be a short mission, her squads first beyond the walls. But it had gone so horribly wrong.

She sat there oblivious to her surroundings, she didn't register that someone had entered her office, or that the teakettle had stopped its high-pitched scream. She only looked up when she noticed a familiar hand place a teacup in front of her. "Drink up, theres rum in that and I'd hate for it to go to waste." Levi said in as gentle a voice as he could manage. Ivy took the tea and as she took her first sip she thought back to how the day had started.

The morning bells went off at 5:30 like they always did on the day of an expedition. Ivy groaned, it wasn't that she hated getting up in the morning. She just felt that there was something morally wrong with getting up before the sun. Especially if one was a chronic insomniac who rarely got more than 4 hours of sleep a night. But Ivy managed to pull herself out of bed and stumble to the bathroom that she shared with Hanji. She looked at the shower, seriously considering taking one to help her wake up, but she remembered how cold it was outside and that turned her off of the thought of it immediately. 'Better to be warm in my own filth then freezing my ass off and clean' she thought to herself as she brushed her teeth. Next door she could hear Hanji getting ready. Ivy then moved back into her room and got dressed. It took her a while to find her boots, they where by the little stove in her office, and she made her way to the dinning hall. Breakfast was the same as it always was before an expedition, a hunk of bread, a bit of salted meat, and tea or coffee. She went to sit with her squad to go over some final plans.

"Squad Leader Shiner we already know this" Cadet Weaver said

"Yes, you've gone over it a million times" Schmit added

Ivy looked at them both, her eyebrow raised just slightly. "If you want to go beyond the walls by yourselves feel free to, but I am just offering you all some free advice." she told them and continued, "Titans are terrifying ok. If you don't have to kill one let one of the more seasoned soldiers take care of it and run like Hell. Also just a heads up you could possibly get burned by their blood if you are exposed to it for a longer period of time. So of you do manage to kill a titan jump off of it before it falls."

"Of course Squad Leader, we understand" Cadet Omskirk said in her soft low voice. Ivy nodded in approval before she moved away, Commander Erwin Smith had called a last minute meeting of the Squad Leaders and she was needed.

As she made her way into the group it was quite clear that Ivy was the youngest of the Squad Leaders. She stood between Hanji and Levi she was only about 2 inches taller than Levi and only an inch or so shorter than Hanji. She had this survivors instinct that radiated off of her, that was part of the reason why Erwin had picked her to be a Squad Leader, despite her young age and relative lack of experience. The other reason was that she was just really good at what she did, she had brought down two titans singlehandedly on her first time out and she had only improved from there. Some who had been in the Corps for longer had a smaller kill record than her.

She looked down at the plans that Erwin had placed out on the table. Scanning it quickly before saying something, "I see you moved my squad Commander, may I ask why?" she looked pointedly at Erwin.

"I figured it would be best to move the new recruits further back in the formation, to minimize their encounters with the titans and keep unnecessary death to a minimum." Erwin finished abruptly as if to say that it was not her business as to why he had changed the formation last minute. Ivy mutely murdered him in her mind as he continued to explain the plan one last time. Soon he had finished and called for the Squads to assemble outside.

"Did you eat something?" Levi asked her as he passed by.

"Tch its none of your damn business what I eat and don't eat." Ivy responded tersely and walked off to her squad.

'She's right,' Levi thought, 'we really are just sending kids to their deaths aren't we?' he also thought back to Ivy just picking at her meals this past few days. 'Maybe its just stress' he thought. No, he hoped. He knew that in the past Ivy had some difficulties with food, in the Underground food had been hard to come by and often times parents had starved their children or other adults had used food as a reward or taken it away as a punishment. When Ivy had lived with he, Farlan, and Isobel Ivy had gone through phases where she would punish herself by not eating. Levi hoped she wasn't doing that again.

Soon the Survey Corps were outside of the wall and all were tense, it was always stressful to be outside of the walls, but even more so when one had new recruits with them. Luckily there did not seem to be many titans out, oddly enough they had only encountered one or two and they were both small so they pushed forwards further. That was when trouble hit.

It was sudden, at first there where none and then suddenly they were everywhere. Ivy and Levi sprung to action, along with a number of other soldiers who had seen their fair share of titan kills before. Ivy noticed that her squad was frozen in fear towards the center of the titan circle. She then looked over at Hanji who looked to be a mix of mystified, terrified, and excited all at the same time. Ivy heard her yell to her partner Moblit "I've never seen titans act this way before! We have to be sure to get extensive notes!"

Ivy yelled at her squad to move, but they heard her too late. She watched as a titan grabbed Cadet Schmit and slowly but purposefully raised him to the titan's mouth and bit his head off with an audible crunch. Ivy's remaining squad looked on in horror as Cadet Weaver leapt into action. Ivy could only watch as he was also eaten alive.

Ivy managed to kill a group of titans, thus clearing a path for the soldiers trapped in the bloodbath below. It was a nightmare below, there was a bloody mass of bodies, both human and titan. The large amount of steam from the titan corpses made it difficult to see just how mass the slaughter was, but judging by the smell it was going to be bad.

Eventually, after a last round of killing the remaining titans, the squad leaders lead the group to a clearing where they were able to asses the damage done to their squads. Out of the 50 or so that had taken part in the expedition only 35 remained, the others were confirmed dead or missing. Out of the 35 remaining however, a good number of them had serious or even life threatening injuries. Cadet Dover from Ivy's squad was among the more seriously injured. It looked as if he might loose his arm. Ivy stood at the edge of the clearing, she was unsure as to what she should say, after all being caring and compassionate were not in her skill set. She knew when they got back she would have to find any living relatives of Cadets Weaver and Schmit and explain to them what had happened.

 _"_ _You have to stay strong"_ Ivy thought to herself _"Showing emotion is showing weakness"_ she sat down at the edge of the clearing she was able to see everything from where she was without having to be a part of it. She just needed a minute to collect her thoughts and then she would be fine. After all she had witnessed this kind of carnage before.

Levi looked over at Ivy, she may have been on the opposite side of the clearing, but he could automatically tell something was wrong with her. _"Well something is wrong"_ he thought, _"Nearly half of her squad got wiped out on their first mission"_

"Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling in the grass by where Ivy sat.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Levi could tell that she wasn't but before he could say something she added "I'd really like to be alone right now, I need to think some things over." Levi understood, he knew that telling her dead squads families what had happened would be difficult for her. After all Ivy might be very good at dealing with death, or at least good at hiding it, telling the families would be a different matter all together. Levi had done it countless times before, and he knew he would have to do it again….

Before long the remaining mission was heading back to the walls, deciding that it was too risky to press on. The trip back was easy enough, they only met a few stray titans, and they where easy enough to dispose of. When they retuned to the walls the Survey Corps was greeted with a warmer response then they had when Ivy had first joined. But that didn't mean that it was any easier.

When they returned to the Survey Corps base Ivy put her horse up and retreated to her room, wanting to be alone for a bit.

Ivy sat at her desk unable to process what had happened, to her left the tea kettle boiled and she let it, its high pitched scream filling her ears helping to numb the pain. She sat at her desk, holding both Cadet Weaver's and Cadet Schmit's blood stained badges. It was only meant to be a short mission, her squads first beyond the walls. But it had gone so horribly wrong.

She sat there oblivious to her surroundings, she didn't register that someone had entered her office, or that the teakettle had stopped its high-pitched scream. She only looked up when she noticed a familiar hand place a teacup in front of her. "Drink up, theres rum in that and I'd hate for it to go to waste." Levi said in as gentle a voice as he could manage. He watched as she drank her tea

"Thank you" she said in a low voice and they sat in silence as she finished her tea.

"Do you know what you are going to say to their families?" Levi asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Not exactly, I have been thinking through it though. I will probably thank them for their service and give them the start of their pension that they get for dying in combat. It wont be much, but it should help their families."

"That sounds good Ivy" Levi said and he got up, Ivy did as well

"I'm just going to clean myself up and then I am going to tell them. Its better to do it sooner than later" Levi nodded, agreeing with her and he left, leaving Ivy alone again.

She showered, scrubbing all of the blood, dirt, and grime off of her body leaving her skin red and raw. She then put on her dress uniform and grabbed the file that he'd been placed on her desk. It contained the names and addresses of her fallen squad members families.

The first address she read was for Cadet Schmit's family. Upon arriving to it she saw just how horrible it was. It was a shitty apartment built shortly after the fall of Wall Maria to have housing for the sudden influx of refugees. It was in the crummier part of a city within Wall Rose. When she knocked on the door Ivy could hear a mass of people scrambling about inside. She heard someone say something about how that was probably Nick coming home after his mission.

"I'm coming dear!" an woman's voice called above all the hubbub and Ivy mentally prepared herself as the door swung opened and she was faced with a small woman with greying blond hair and kind eyes, she could see Cadet Schmit in the woman's face.

"Are you Cadet Schmit's mother?" Ivy asked, her voice steady and her face emotionless.

"Yes, why are you asking? Where is my Nicky?" the woman's voice wavered a bit as she looked around for her son "Who are you?" She asked Ivy "Where is Nick? Where is my son?"

"I am Squad Leader Shiner, I was your sons Squad Leader. I regret to inform you that during todays mission we where caught off guard and your son lost his life." Ivy looked away as the woman broke down into tears.

"Not my Nicky" she kept saying and her outbreak caused the other members of the family to come to the door to see what was going on.

"Whats going on Mama?" a little girl asked, pulling on her mothers apron strings "Where is Nicky?"

"Who is this girl?" another person asked

Ivy started up again, "I am Squad Leader Shiner, and I was Cadet Schmit's Squad Leader-" she was cut off suddenly by the woman

"Nicky is dead!" she cried out and the other people began to cry as well. Ivy stood awkwardly to the side not sure what to do. Finally one of the older boys looked up.

"You'd best leave, you aren't welcome here" he said

"But I still have to give you the first of your monthly pension" Ivy protested "I know its not much, but with the sudden influx of soldiers we can only offer so much, and Cadet Schmit was not an active member of the Survey Corps for long enough to earn a large enough pension." as soon as Ivy had said that last bit she knew she had said to much.

"Just give us the money and go" he said, and so Ivy did, not knowing what else to do. She just hoped that Cadet Weaver's family was a bit more understanding. They weren't.

When she arrived back at base Ivy was exhausted. She was drained both mentally and physically Levi upon seeing her decided that she he and Hanji needed to get a drink. So that night they all hunkered down in Levi's room and drank until dawn.

Hi guys, I'm sorry it has been so long since I last updated, but I have been dealing with a lot of shit that I wont go into here. Also just a word of advice, don't drink alcohol on an empty stomach. It doesn't mater how high your alcohol tolerance is.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello everyone, in this chapter I am doing another time jump. This time I am skipping ahead about two years and finally getting around to including the 104th squad. Its only been like 8 chapters.

Two years had passed since Ivy Shiner had become a Squad Leader, and things where actually starting to look really good for the Survey Corps. The people where rarely very upset with them when they came back from expeditions, and their casualties where at an all time low. The elite Survey Corps members where just leaving for an expedition outside of the walls and the crowds where wishing him luck. Ivy could see that the crowed was peppered with the faces of freshly graduated Cadets. _"They are probably choosing what division they are in tonight."_ She looked out at the bright and hopeful faces _"I wonder how many of them will choose the Survey Corps?"_ She then looked over to Levi, he looked both bored and annoyed, the crowed was practically shouting his accomplishments.

All Levi could say to that was "Tch, shut up" Ivy rolled her eyes, laughing internally. She knew Levi found all the attention he got to be annoying. Truthfully Ivy felt the same way, she also had a number people in the crowd who where talking about her accomplishments. She was known throughout the walls for her large number of titan kills, as well as for being one of the youngest Squad Leaders on record. Ivy started to think through her squad's plan again. She was just thankful that all her squad members had been in the corps for a long time. Soon they where outside of the gates and riding along at a steady pace. Their intended destination was a village about a quarter of the way to Wall Maria. Currently they were all riding together, Commander Erwin Smith was in the lead, Ivy, Mike, Hanji, and Levi were flanking him, and their squads flanked each of them. Looking back Ivy watched as the Walls grew smaller and smaller. She also looked at her squad. She saw faces she could trust not to die, they had accompanied her on many missions before now and she trusted them to survive. First there was Cadet Ada Smith, no relation to Commander Erwin Smith. Cadet Ada Smith was a capable young woman with a number of titan kills under her belt before she joined Ivy's squad. Cadet Smith was particularly good at stealth attacks that required multiple people this seemed odd because the young woman was especially talkative most of the times, it was one of the qualities Ivy liked lest about her. Then there was Cadet Benat Wolfe a brilliant fighter, he was especially skilled at hand to hand combat and sword fighting. He was however a bit older than Ivy, she remembered when he first joined her squad he was very resentful of the fact that she was his commanding officer. However Ivy soon gained his respect by drinking him under the table and also saving his ass from a 10 meter titan on one of their first missions together. Next was Cadet Frederika Sauer, she was a quiet girl who had been in training when Wall Maria had fallen, her entire family had been killed and according to rumors she'd had long hair at the time and had cut it all off when she found out. Currently the girl kept her hair short so Ivy had reason to believe the rumors were true. Cadet Sauer was also very good at 3DM gear, she was willing and able to pull of many stunts that some of the most seasoned vets wouldn't dare try. Then Ivy's thoughts moved to Cadet Jakob Ziegler, he was the youngest of Ivy's squad at the tender age of 18, despite his young age however, he was extremely talented and the number of his titan kills showed that. Finally there was Cadet Otis Kraus he was very talented, that was true but he was also known for being a bit of a man whore, as well as talking a bit too much at times. Ivy was well aware of her squad's talent, they were some of the best in the Survey Corps, and yet she still was concerned for their safety whenever they left the walls on a mission but she assured herself that they could take care of themselves, they were more than capable of doing that.

Ivy focused back on the mission. It was just the elite members of the Survey Corps, the others had stayed behind. Their mission for today was to push forward as much as they could, trying to clear a path to Wall Maria. Also Hanji was insistent that they bring back two live titan specimen for her an her squad to study. Ivy looked over at Hanji, she could see just how excited Hanji was to be outside of the Walls, and how excited she was at the prospect of getting new titans to study. Ivy then looked over at Levi, he looked as bored as ever, but she could tell that he was also worried about his squad, they where all quite young in comparison to Levi, and this was also their first mission as a squad.

"Tch- you'd better focus on the mission" Levi scolded her as he caught her looking in his direction.

"Oh shut up shorty" was her quick response "I am focused"

Levi raised an eyebrow "Really?"

"Yes, in fact…" Ivy said, suddenly a rare but mischievous smile snaked its way onto her face "I'd like to enact a bet."

"Oh?" Levi was interested "and what is that bet?"

"Whoever downs the most titans today gets tonights drinks paid for by the loser."

Levi gave her one of those looks that says "You are on" and he turned to Hanji and Mike and asked "Are you two in as well?"

"Naturally" Mike said

"Well of course!" Hanji added energetically "I wouldn't miss free booze for anything"

"Tch- what makes you think you are going to win?" Levi asked

"Well-" Hanji began before she was cut off

"Titan coming from the left sir!" one of the cadets called out. Suddenly the mood went form jovial and joking to serious and deadly within seconds. Quickly two of the cadets nearest to the titan leapt into action and quickly downed the titan.

"Good job!" someone yelled

"Not bad!" cried another and they continued on their way encountering a few titans as they went, by their count Ivy had killed three titans on her own, as had Levi. Mike had only had two solo kills, but he also had 3 assisted kills. Hanji only had one solo kill os far, but that was mainly because she kept on getting distracted by looking for specimens to take back.

They were about half way to their destination, and the day was still young when they decided to take a break in a little town. The horses needed watering and all of the members of the Survey Corps where hungry. They settled at the town square and first the horses where tended, Ivy as always gave her horse Ace a good rub down and some oats along with her water "Thanks girl" she whispered in the horses ear and the horse nickered in response. Ivy then sat down with the other squad leaders and Commander Erwin to eat lunch. The lunch was simple but filling. It was made up of borsch and bread, as well as an apple.

"This borsch is delicious." Hanji said, stuffing her face with the beet soup, its red juice dripping onto her chin, "Is there meat in here?"

"I believe so" Erwin said, savoring a bite of the soup that contained a small chunk of meat. "I don't remember writing this much meat into the budget though…" he added eyeing Ivy as she ate her portion of soup. He knew that it had been her turn to cook the meal for todays mission.

Looking up she said "There isn't all that much meat in here, just a pound or two of cheap cow chopped up very small"

Erwin took another bite of the stew, "Well I must say it is quite good, and I'm sure the cadets will appreciate the bit of meat"

"We've had this before haven't we?" Levi asked her quietly

"Yes" Ivy answered, unsure where this was going

"I mean when were in the Underground. Farlan would make it"

"Oh, yes, I learned how to make it from him. I change it up here and there depending on what vegetables are available, and what meat. But so did Farlan." Ivy said

"Its good" Levi said and gave her the smallest of smiles that went unnoticed by everyone else, "It tastes like the good memories"

"Titan!" someone cried out as a lumbering 4 meter beast came stumbling towards them. Ivy and Levi sprung into action without a word, their squads soon followed. Hang managed to stop Levi and Ivy from killing it,

"STOP!" she cried out, "I need him for science!" Levi looked at her in disbelief and then he looked to Ivy who just shrugged her shoulders and jumped off of the titan's back. Hanji promptly landed on the titan and slew it "Fooled ya" she called out as the remaining squad leaders flipped her off.

"Thats cheating" Mike said calmly and Hanji shook her head as of to say no.

"You never said I couldn't claim them and then kill them.". Soon however the squad leaders had more important things to worry about. More titans had begun to enter the town. Ivy lead her squad to the northern portion of the town where she could see a group of titans gathering.

"Sauer and Ziegler you two take that one there" she said pointing at a 7 meter titan near the bridge "Wolfe, Smith, and Kraus you take those two there" she said pointing to two 6 meter titans. "And I will take those two" Ivy said to herself, looking at a 5 meter and a 15 meter "Easy as can be" she said and took to the air. In two quick sweeps she managed to down both titans. She looked and saw that her squad had done well and killed their titans as well she gave them a small nod of approval and directed them to move on and kill more titans. Ivy moved on as well, taking out two more titans before she landed near Mike. He nodded his head, acknowledging her presence.

"How many kills?" he asked

"I just got my 7th. And you?"

"My 6th" suddenly they both heard Commander Erwin calling for a retreat.

"Why?" Ivy asked Mike, "We could still go so much further"

"I have no idea" he replied, soon they came across the remaining squad leaders "Why are we retreating?" Mike asked Hanji and Levi

"Erwin thinks that something is going on towards town because the titans are acting oddly." Hanji explained. Suddenly Mike's eyes lit up.

"Like 5 years ago?" he asked Levi and Hanji nodded seriously. Ivy thought back 5 years, she had still been in the Underground when Wall Maria had fallen and that had to have been what they were talking about.

"Well enough chit-chat" Ivy said, "We'd best head out now if something really is wrong" and they all rode out and back towards the Walls.

On the way back the Survey Corps encountered a serious number of titans, more than they had previously. "We cant kill them all" one person said, Ivy was unsure who it was though.

"We don't need to" someone else cried "They are all ignoring us" Ivy noticed that this was indeed true. Ivy wondered why they were being ignored for a minute or two before quickly realizing what must have happened.

 _"_ _If the titans have in fact broken through the wall how are we supposed to get in?"_ she wondered as they rode on _"If we go around to the next gate we would be to late to be of any use, and yet I doubt we could get in through the same gate as the titans."_ she continued to thing as they rode closer and closer to the walls, she could see that the number o titans had increased and she and her fellow solders began to feel a bit more anxious than before _"We could always use 3DM gear to climb the wall but that would leave the horses exposed…"_ then she looked over at Levi, he wasn't called "Humanities Strongest Soldier" for nothing. "Levi!" she called over the pounding of horses hooves and titans feet "Levi" she called again as he looked over in her direction "When we get to the wall you have to go over first, they will probably need your help" Levi looked about to protest when Commander Erwin joined in.

"She's right, but Squad Leader Ivy Shiner I want you to go over the wall as well, the other squad leaders and I will take the cadets and your horses around to the next gate and meet you there." he said, his voice was so certain of itself.

"Please make sure that not all the titans are killed!" Hanji called out. "I need at lest two to study!" Levi and Ivy just looked at her with the same exasperated expression as if to say "what the actual fuck Hanji, why would you want that?" but they both nodded their heads in agreement as well….

OMG! I am so so sorry that I haven't updated in forever, I had this chapter completed and everything. I just forgot about it for a few months. Anyways I am on summer break now so I should be able to update more regularly, hopefully…..


	11. Chapter 11

Hello again my dear readers, hopefully I get this chapter up sooner rather than later, but hey I have school and work and sad to say those come first.

Ivy saw that the titan lifting the giant boulder had fallen, so she maneuvered her way over as quickly as she could. Ivy knew that Levi had been in the area so it would be safe, but she was curious as to what made this titan tick, he didn't act like the average titan, nor did he act like the average abnormal titan ether. He truly was abnormal.

When she arrived at the scene Ivy softly landed beside Levi expecting to see some scene of chaos and destruction, maybe just a burning titan corpse. Ivy was shocked to see all of these things, but also three young cadets two of whom where holding up the third. 'What is going on?' Ivy thought as she looked towards Levi, she knew he was as confused as she was but he wasn't showing any signs of confusions. She leaned over to him and asked "Levi what in the walls names is going on here?"

"That kid just came out of that titan?" he replied quickly.

"Like he was eaten?" Ivy asked, not quite getting what Levi was saying.

"No, he is the titan." Ivy just looked at him, and then to the boy in the arms of his friends.

"How is that even possible?" Ivy continued, she had never seen anything like this in all her years of fighting titans.

"I have no idea, but we'd best take him in for questioning." Just then Commander Pixis of the Southern Garrison came down to where Levi and Ivy stood.

"I see he was successful" he said to no one in particular. Ivy wrinkled her nose, she could smell the alcohol on his breath from where she stood. She had no problem with drinking, but she never approved of the Garrison's lax rules of drinking on the job. It was a poor practice in her mind.

"What do you mean 'He was successful'" Levi asked

"Young Erin here is a titan shifter," Commander Pixis explained "we proposed that he use this ability to help stop the flow of titans coming into the city. As you can see he was successful.'

"Yes" Levi mused, "he was indeed. Still, we will have to take him in for questioning" when the boy's friends heard this they protested.

"You can't take Erin!" the girl in the scarf cried out. Ivy noted how she clung desperately to his shirt.

"He would be safe" Ivy said, "he'd be under the protection of the Survey Corps, nothing is safer"

Both her and the blond boy looked at her with distrust and protested more. Ivy looked at them, she really didn't have the patience for their whining right then. After all this was a very pressing matter and both she and Levi knew something terrible could happen to their friend if the Survey Corps didn't have him. Lord knows what the Military Police would do to him.

"Listen" she final said, growing evermore sick of their protests "We have no idea what the Military Police would do to him if they got their hands on him, at least with Levi and I he would have some semblance of safety."

"You should come with us" Levi said to the two children, "what are your names anyway? And who is your commander?"

"Well I'm Armin, Armin Artlet. And this is Mikasa Ackerman, our friend is Erin Yeager" At the mention of the girl's last name both Levi and Ivy raised their eyebrow and looked to each other, after all Ackerman was not a very common last name.

Soon enough the remaining Survey Corps members came in and with the help of the Garrison and Training Corps killed the titans in the city with the exception of two whom Hanji would use for science.

Hanji and Commander Erwin joined Levi and Ivy to escort Mikasa, Armin, and Erin to the center. When they passed the gates they were joined by an escort of Military Police. When they passed through the Walls Sheena Ivy wrinkled her nose in disgust. Ivy had a deep distaste for the centermost district and loathed their disregard for anyone beneath them, both literally and figuratively. Levi seeing her disgust leaned over and said "Don't do anything to rash, we need these kids ."

"I know" Ivy said and let her face go slack, depriving it of all emotion. If she couldn't actually do anything to hurt the bastards she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of knowing how much they bothered her.

Eventually they made it to the court, Erin was taken to a secure holding cell, where Commander Erwin and Levi would watch over him. Meanwhile Hanji, Mike and Ivy took Mikasa and Armin to a different holding cell where they would wait until it was time for the trial to start. The three of them where then left with nothing to do, so they had to make some entertainment for themselves. Hanji suggested that they theorize how Erin could be a titan shifter. Both Mike and Ivy quickly shot down that idea. Mike pulled out dice from somewhere and the three of them played a few games of Chance. But soon they grew bored of that and someone produced a deck of cards and they started a game of Rummy. After what seemed like ages a young Military Police man came running down the hall.

"I just though to tell you," he paused to catch his breath "The titan shifter…. he's awake." at hearing that news Hanji literally jumped up and rand down the corridor, Mike and Ivy running after her. They finally caught up to her as she rounded the last corner and started walking instead of running. Upon arriving at Erin's cell Hanji immediately grabbed the bars and pulled her face very close, obviously scaring the shit out of the young man who was already terrified.

Ivy, Hanji, and Mike had the task of walking Erin to the court room. Hanji was deep in discussion with Erin, meaning she was doing all of the talking while Erin just nodded his head occasionally, when Mike leaned down and sniffed Erin while smugly judging him. Ivy just stood back a couple of feet and glared at him as they walked, trying to get a gauge on his character. When Hanji saw what they where doing and how Erin was reacting she assured him that this was normal and continued her monologue until quite suddenly they arrived at the doors of the court room and the three of them had to leave Erin as they left to take their seats.

Ivy had always found Military Court Hearings to be quite dull, she had attended a few herself, and had on one occasion been the person on trial. But this trial seemed to be the exception. Already the whole audience was alive and humming with whispers. No one had really seen anything like this before and they couldn't wait to see how it would play out.

At first it wasn't looking so good, the Military Police seemed determined to keep Erin with them. Then quite suddenly Ivy watched as Levi hopped the barricade dividing the court audience from the court floor. Ivy watched as Levi walked over to the young Erin who seemed to be oblivious to the ever approaching Levi and more content in digging a hole for himself. Suddenly Levi kicked the boy in the face. The whole court room flinched, the only exceptions being Ivy and Mikasa, Ivy because she had expected this and Mikasa because she was so angry she looked like she was about ready to jump over the gate and beat up Levi herself. She was being held back by the blond boy,. Armin his name was. Levi continued his vices attack on Erin and even Ivy flinched as he nocked one of the boys teeth loose. The attack ended as suddenly as it had begun, but it was clear on the judge's face that his opinion on the matter had changed. He no longer thought that the Survey Corps would be too lenient on the boy. Levi had proven to him that if the boy should get out of hand he would be taken care of.

After the trial Ivy joined Hanji, Levi, Irwin and the boy Erin in a small chamber. Hanji was examining Erin for any injury from Levi's attack. She found that the tooth Levi had knocked out had regrown already, even though it had only been half an hour since it has been nocked out of his mouth.

"How is that even possible?" Hanji asked, mostly herself but also to anyone who would listen.

Ivy leaned over, interested in Hanji's findings and was mildly impressed, she was certain teeth didn't grow back in 30 minutes. She then looked over at Levi, she could see only the faintest hint of a glimmer in his eye, he knew he had done something right.

The Survey Corps was forced to move their base from a spot near the gates where they had been for several years. They had to move to an old Survey Corps base. An old castle, it had been abandon because its location was not practical for missions. It was however perfect for keeping a teenage titan shifter away from humans.

Levi, his squad and Erin had already left for the new base when Ivy started her trip there. Commander Erwin had insisted that Ivy would be of best use there. Ivy was expecting a quiet ride through the forest by herself. Unfortunately Commander Erwin insisted that she also bring the new recruits with her. Ivy didn't mind at first, she wasn't expecting many. Especially after the bloodshed that they had just witnessed. Ivy was wrong. In fact she had never seen so many recruits ever. They started their ride out, and instantly the chatter and small talk began. Ivy moved ahead a little further in hopes to tune out the voices. But as she was moving she saw two very familiar faces. The blond boy and the girl who could fight almost as well as Levi. They where friends with Erin and as she passed them Ivy accidentally made eye contact with the girl and the girl's eyes narrowed with distrust. It was a look that Ivy was very familiar with, having preformed it many times before.

Soon the tops of the castle where visible and Ivy stopped the group. "Now as I am certain you all remember that I am Squad Leader Shiner. You will refer to me as such. When we enter the castle walls I expect you to be silent. First you will put up the horses in the stables and then you will await further orders in the courtyard. Are there any questions?" A hand shot up in the back of the crowd. "Yes?" Ivy asked tiredly.

"When will we eat?" the girl with brown hair and a un satisfiable appetite asked. Ivy rolled her eyes.

"At this rate never." She said and got gasped of horror in response. "Now lets go. Its getting late."

As they rode into the courtyard Ivy directed them to the stables and she ran into the castle kitchens, leaving the new recruits with Dieter Ness. After all it was his job to deal with the new recruits, Ivy was just instructed to deliver them and then train at the castle.

In the kitchens Ivy found herself alone, for this she was grateful, she had seen enough of people for the day. The first thing Ivy did was take the freshly cleaned copper kettle and put it on the stove to boil water, she could tell it had recently been used. She then went through the cabinets and found a teacup and a small teapot, both freshly washed, then she made the search for tea. She found it in a small box in a drawer, she carefully measured the tea into the pot and waited for the kettle to boil. While doing so she wandered the kitchen, the whole thing smelled of water and lye soap, the scent of Levi. He had been in here and had cleaned the whole kitchen. Ivy turned just as the water began to boil. She quickly poured the water in the pot and left it to steep as she riffled through her bags looking for her sketchbook. She always sketched when she was bored. Soon her tea was done and she continued to sit at the kitchen table sketching as she drank her tea. Ivy became very engrossed in her sketching when she looked up suddenly as someone screamed. She looked up right into Petra's face, she was shocked to see Ivy and had let out a small yelp of shock. "Squad Leader Shiner, I, I was not expecting you to be in here. I was not expecting you until later."

"Yes, well I managed to get the new recruits moving faster than I expected. Where is Levi? I should probably let him know I am here."

"Last I saw him he was cleaning upstairs" Petra said.

"Thank you." Ivy said as she passed her, still carrying her last cup of tea. Ivy wandered the castle, amazed at its size. Every room she passed was clean and smelled of lye soap and water, the floors she could tell had been washed with oil and vinegar, and the stone walls had been scrubbed too. As she walked further she could hear voices. She recognized Levi's low emotionless voice, he seemed to be chewing someone out about the floors not being clean enough. How typical. When Ivy found the room that they where cleaning Ivy just stood in the doorway waiting for Levi to notice her. It took Oluo Bozado asking her to move for Levi to look up and notice her.

"You're here?" he asked, eyebrow raised "Did you bring any recruits?"

"More than you'd think" Ivy responded. "Also I think you've cleaned enough for now. Erwin mentioned that Cadet Yeager needed some outside time today. So take him riding or for a walk or something." Levi got up.

"Really?" he asked "I have to stop cleaning to take this brat out like a dog?"

"Yes, so you'd better do it. Besides he's only 15, he needs the exercise." Ivy said, even though she wasn't the biggest fan of Erin Yeager as a person she had to pity him. He was young and thrown into an unjust situation. He needed to get out every once and a while. It wasn't healthy to be indoors all day.

In the end all of Squad Levi, Levi and Ivy included went on a ride with Erin. When they came back Erin was made to hitch up the horses with Oluo. Ivy and Levi went on ahead, probably to get tea or coffee.

As Erin was hitching up the last of the horses he heard a commotion outside. When he looked out of the stables he saw his friends. "Can I go talk to them?" He asked Oluo .

"Sure, just be quick." and he ran off. Meanwhile Levi and Ivy watched from the window above.

"There really are a lot of them" Levi commented and drank more tea.

 **Gah I am so so sorry that this is taking so long to update. But now that school is over I am working a full time job where I work for 10+ hours a day with like no breaks so I get home and I pass out. I promise I will try and update more in the future. But I really dont know if I can. Love you lots.**


	12. Chapter 12

Ivy woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. She she had had another nightmare concerning her mother and her past. 'Better to brush it off' she thought 'After all training is today and we have all those new recruits'. She quickly got dressed and braided her hair in two braids she then pined them to her head like a crown. It was almost time for breakfast and everyone knew that Ivy Shiner was a nightmare if she didn't have coffee in the mornings. She loved tea, this was true, but she needed her coffee in the morning.

The dinning hall was already full by the time she got there. So she quickly slid into her seat and grabbed a cup of coffee, she had hardly slept the night before and was desperate for any amount of caffeine. She looked over and say that Levi was pretty much in the same boat as her.

"Sleep well?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

"No." was the brutally short response.

As Ivy sat at the dinning table attempting to fully wake up she thought about how evil it was to be forced awake so early, for starters the sun wasn't even up and as a chronic insomniac she was envious of all the energy the new recruits had. The dinning hall was practically buzzing with energy. Hanji on the other hand seemed to be having a slightly different reaction to her serious lack of sleep. That is to say she was giddy and giggling at everything. She collapsed into the chair between Levi and Ivy quite suddenly saying as she fell

"I can see you guys haven't slept either."

"How could you tell?" Levi asked,

"Hahaha! Well you guys never sleep." she said, her voice teetering on the edge of madness. She then added more seriously "Oh and also you both look like death itself. Seriously I've seen corpses that look better than the pair of you."

"Thanks Hanji." Ivy said practically falling asleep in her coffee. Instead she took a massive swig of coffee finishing off her third cup that morning. "What are we even doing today?"

"Training, I think" Levi responded

"Great." Ivy said, "I don't know if I can take the recruits insufferable whining today."

"Don't remind me." Levi responded, "Maybe we should just drink ourselves unconscious and hope Erwin doesn't notice."

"No, he'd know" Hanji said, for once being the words of wisdom. With that Erwin called them all to attention.

"Attention! Today we will begin training for an exclusive expedition to the far north of Wall Maria. The Squad Leaders who are going have already been notified." With that he glanced over at Levi, Hanji, and Ivy.

"Oh shit he means us, I forgot." Hanji whispered to the other two.

Ivy felt a sinking in her stomach. Ivy hated being cold. It wasn't that she hated the cold, she quite enjoyed it. No. What she hated was the idea of never being able to escape the cold, and she knew that the far north would be like that.

"You are dismissed to meet with your squads" Erwin finished. He then walked over to Ivy, Levi and Hanji, "So as I'm certain you three already know, you are the ones who have been chosen to go north."

"Tch." Levi said, "Why?"

"In part we need to test how titans do in colder climates." Erwin told the trio. "Also some people have managed to miss every single cold weather training since they've been with us." He looked very pointedly at Ivy to which Ivy made a face of extreme displeasure.

"I don't do below freezing temperatures." she said.

Erwin raised an eyebrow "I can put you on stable duty for the rest of your short life if you refuse. Don't think I wont. After all you came from shit and you can go back to it at any time."

"Fine" Ivy said after a pause in which she planed out Erwin's death with excruciating detail. "When do we leave?"

"In one week."

One week later the expedition team had already been moved further north and now it was just a matter of getting to the further most regions. The titans are secured in cages and chains, that Erin had been unable to break out of in his titan form.

It was raining. Of course it was. It was also cold. Ivy sat on her horse miserable. She was wet and cold and she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. She looked over at Levi and could tell he was just as miserable as she was. In fact the only one who didn't seem to be completely miserable was` Hanji. Well how could she? She was going to get to mess around with titans. Ivy clung tighter to her thermos, hoping the tea inside it would warm her a bit more. Levi made a round to make sure they had their small group of scouts and then they where off. What ever hopes Ivy had of warming up when they moved where dashed instantly. With the added wind chill it got even colder and Ivy could feel her breath being snatched away from her with each movement. The further north they moved the less it rained, soon the rain turned to ice and then to snow. When that happened they where ordered to change into their extreme weather gear that included a thicker wool cloak and a thicker wool coat. They where also allotted extra socks, gloves, mittens, hats, scarves and blankets. Ivy was thankful for the fact that her position allowed her to have a fur lined cape, she was thankful for its added warmth and its water resistance.

Soon they had to stop for the night, and as the sun faded away it got even colder. The Scouts all struggled to set up the tents, in the end they only set up 4, deciding that it would be safer if everyone shared. Their body heat would hopefully keep them warm.

Once they had a roaring fire started one of the Scouts went about heating up some tinned soup and potatoes. The warm food helped them to warm back up, and soon they all bundled off to bed, the exception being the few poor souls who had to take first watch. Ivy, Levi, and Hanji where sharing a tent and after a scuffle over who was hogging the blankets and who had the coldest feet Hanji fell fast asleep. Levi and Ivy lay awake in the dark for a few hours more. Ivy knew she had fallen asleep because she immediately fell into one of her old nightmares.

She was a child again, walking down the street in the Underground, cobbles where missing and there was garbage everywhere and bodies littered the road as well. She started running, someone was chasing her. She ran into the whorehouse where her mother had worked. She stumbled over her mothers body. Blood was everywhere. So she started running again. She could feel the men grabbing her pulling her back. She was screaming and clawing at them, at her. Then the men where puling at her clothes . They poked and prodded her naked body . She fought back, she didn't always, she couldn't always. She screamed and clawed at their hands, clawing herself. She could hear someone calling her name. "Ivy!" someone was calling her "Ivy!" someone was shaking her "IVY WAKE UP!" Suddenly Ivy jolted awake, still screaming and she slammed her head directly into Levi's chest. Instantly he wrapped her into a hug.

"Ivy, Ivy, Ivy its ok. Its Levi. No one is going to hurt you." Ivy kept sobbing "Ivy look at me. You are safe ok." He then turned to Hanji "Go in my bag, there is some tea, why don't you go brew Ivy a cup. OK?"

"Of course" she said and ducked out with the tea and a tin mug.

"Was it the same dream as always?" Levi asked her still holding her close to his chest so she could hear his heart beat through his chest.

"Yea," she croaked still shaking.

"Well Hanji is making you a cup of tea, is that ok?"

"Yea" she said, again her answer was short and blunt. Levi knew better than to press her when she was like this, instead it was best to sit quietly with her and have a few cups of tea, sometimes a few drinks and she would eventually talk if she needed to.

Soon Hanji came in with the tea "Here you go Ivy." she said handing her the tin mug.

"Thank you." she said as she extended her shaking hands and took a deep whiff of her tea.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hanji asked to which Ivy just shook her head.

The trio sat together drinking tea and enjoying each others company until morning and they had to pack up and move on .


End file.
